Perfection
by hinatafan711
Summary: Hinata gets a phsyc. evaluation from Ibiki after her almost kidnapping; which leads to her becoming his apprentice at age four.This is the story of Hinata's change from a small scared girl to one of the strongest ninja in all the nations. Strong Hinata RR
1. Chapter 1

Hey! This is my first story so don't be too harsh on it, though I do want criticism. I wanted to write something a little more original than what I usually read so I hope you like the story so I would be very appreciative it you would review after reading chapters so I know what I need to improve on and what I need to fix, just stuff like that.  
This probably wont be too romantic and ibiki and hinata are not going to get together in this story, he's going to be more of the fatherly figure that she never had. Sorry if you were hoping for that. There also may be some anko in this story, I don't really know yet.

Disclaimer: I do not, and never will, own Naruto. But this plot is mine so please don't use without my say-so.

* * *

Ibiki stalked down corridor after corridor, the lights steadily dimming as he approached the interrogation rooms. He couldn't believe the situation he was in. He was the head of interrogation and torture dammit! He could bring a jonnin to his knees in less than a half an hour if needed to. So why, god why, was he on his way to the interrogation rooms so he could perform a psych evaluation on a toddler!?

Flashback----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was in a good mood, or at least the best kind of mood he could get in. He had just had three consecutive torture sessions, all fairly easy, but they proved to be fun none the less. The only thing that could make this day better was a mission preferably one with **lots **of violence; which was what he was on his way to get. The Hokage had called him to his office just a few short minutes ago for what he said was an important mission.

"Good evening Ibiki-san, go right inside, the Hokage is expecting you." Ibiki did not know the secretary who had told him this, but nodded to her anyway as he walked through the large doors in front of him.

Sarutobi was, as always, sitting in his desk concentrating on the seemingly endless stream of paperwork in front of him. "Ibiki, hello!" Sarutobi put down his pen in favor of greeting the man who had just walked in. Hizuren was fully capable of multitasking, but he never could pass on an opportunity to ignore his mountains of paperwork.

"Hello Hokage-sama you said you had an important mission for me to do?" Sarutobi sighed as Ibiki said this. Did that man always have to get straight to the point? At this rate Ibiki would be in and out of his office before Sarutobi's cramped hand had realized it had stopped writing.

"Yes you are correct, but I need to know that you will accept it no matter what it? It is extremely important that you feel comfortable taking it."Ibiki sported a raised eyebrow at his leaders request, then smirked. This mission was a secret and secret meant important which usually meant violent, just what he needed.

"Yes of course Hokage-sama." If Ibiki hadn't been thinking of possible missions he could get he might have seen the flash of amusement on Sarutobi's face before it disappeared.

"Good, thank you Ibiki. Moving on to the mission, it is B ranked and to complete it you will report to the department of interrogation and torture, sound proof room 3C to be specific." The Hokage told him.

"Who is the man I will be interrogating sir?" Ibiki questioned

"Well it's not a man exactly—"

"Ahhh, a kunoichi then." Ibiki concluded

"Um, no," Ibiki's eyes narrowed slightly, if he didn't know any better he would have said the Hokage was nervous about something. Actually he was almost positive that's what it was, years of studying men's facial expressions could make one sensitive to things like that. But as far as he knew this was a normal mission, he would be interrogating someone of importance even if it wasn't a ninja. The Hokage continued speaking,"You will be doing a psych evaluation of the Hyuuga heiress, age four."

Silence.............................

More silence.................................

An eye twitch from Ibiki................................

"Hokage-sama, are you trying to tell me that I will be performing a psych evaluation on a toddler?" Ibiki did not yell this, or scream it, or any variation of the former and yet………………………………… It was a simple intimidation technique that Ibiki knew had absolutely no effect on the Hokage, but it was the perfect way to show his outrage at the request. "If I may ask why Hokage-sama?"

Hizuren calmly sat in his chair and met Ibiki's cold, furious black eyes unflinchingly. Though Ibiki was obviously angry with the Hokage, that anger was heavily laced with confusion that Sarutobi understood completely. Ibiki was a special jonnin that was prepared to take the next anbu exam, he also happened to be the head of the department of interrogation and torture. Psych evaluations were for beginners or green chunin (very green chunin) at the very best, certainly not for the best interrogator of Konoha. Furthermore, an evaluation of a toddler? It was a wonder he hadn't started shooting lightning everywhere from the moment he heard. "Ibiki, earlier tonight there was a kidnapping attempt on the Hyuuga heiress and I am ashamed to say that they got quite far before we caught up to them. This child is four years old Ibiki, she has been through a lot tonight and I want you to know if she is still sound of mind after, well after everything." The Hokage was very serious as he said this.

Ibiki had, for the most part, calmed his rage though he was still visibly angry, "Hokage-sama, I mean absolutely no disrespect when I say this, but wouldn't a chunin be more suited to this mission then me." _'A genin could do this mission for Kami's sake!'_

"Ibiki I have two reasons for choosing you for this mission; one is Hiashi Hyuuga, the child's father and clan head. He is a pompus, egoistical man who fancies himself a king, Ha, if he's a king then I'm kami. Anyway, he would take it as a direct insult if I didn't make this mission as important as possible without being absolutely ridiculous. My second reason is you control. You have a knack for using just the right amount of pressure in any situation. I know you haven't done a psych evaluation in a while, but I'm afraid that if I send a newer interogationist they might be too harsh on her, causing more problems than solving them. They could also be so nice as to find nothing wrong with her when there could be something very wrong indeed. I trust you to use the techniques as well a proper tone to perform a good evaluation on the girl." Sarutobi now had his pipe in his mouth and a thoughtful expression on his face as though he wanted to know what Ibiki would say to an argument such as that one.

"Hokage-sama I—"

"No buts Ibiki, there is nothing you can say to change my mind about this mission. Besides, I believe you have already accepted it, if my memory serves me right." Hizuren had a small smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes as he said this to the jonnin in front of him.

Ibiki sighed, the Hokage was right. He had already accepted, so as a proud ninja of his word there was nothing he could do. As he turned to walk out of the office the Hokage's voice stopped him.

"Ibiki I have one more thing to ask of you before you leave." Hizuren looked remarkably serious as he said this. "I don't just want you to focus on the kidnapping; ask her about everything from favorite foods to her life at home, a total evaluation in a sense."

"As you wish Hokage-sama," Ibiki bowed before walking out the door anger steadily climbing once more.

Flashback End-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ibiki was furious to say the least. His Hokage had just tricked him into performing this mission, then, he asks him to do a total evaluation of a toddler?! _'Sometimes I swear the Hogake is going crazy'_This was ludicrous, it was an itty bitty little girl what on Earth could possibly be wrong with her! Well, other than the whole kidnapping at age four thing.

The sound of inhumane screams of tortured traitors and hated enemies snapped him out of his thoughts. He stood in front of one of the few sound proof rooms in the entire department. They kept screams out, and for an interrogationist, that was almost completely useless. But tonight, inside that room is a child, albeit one that is most likely an exact replica on her father, but a kid none the less.

"Ibiki-sama the child is waiting for you inside," said an unknown voice over intercom. Ibiki sighed, no matter what he thought of her clan, or her for that matter, he had a mission to do and if he let personal feelings get in the way of that. He was as good as dead if the Hokage found out. As he mentally prepared himself for the hyuuga brat he opened the door to find….nothing. Or at least nothing until he focused a little bit more, seeing a small head with a body barely tall enough to sit in the large chair put there for her. He walked over and sat near her, this couldn't be serious. This was the heiress of the hyuuga clan? This little chit of a girl was the heiress to the coldest most pretentious clans in Konoha? This had to be a joke. The hyuuga's so called heiress was sitting there desperately trying to blend in with a chair while looking down and twiddling her fingers. Kami this was gonna take a while.

He sighed for what had to be the tenth time that night and began, "Hello my name is Ibiki Morino, I want you to answer all of my questions as good as you can, understand?" She flinched but nodded in his direction. _'Control Ibiki control. That is the reason you were picked for this mission so don't mess it up just because you're pissed. Okay let's try it a little softer.' _"What is your name?" It came out less demanding then the last time, but still in the gruff athoritive voice that was always present when he spoke.

'M-my n-n-name i-is H-hinata H-hyuuga," she didn't look at him when she said this, making all the harder to hear her whispering voice. Well this was just great, she fidgeted _and_ stuttered. He raised an eyebrow as she peeked up at him through her bangs then looked back down blushing heavily. She blushes too, don't forget the blushing.

"Well then Hinata-san why don't you tell me what happened tonight." His eyes still on her as he said this, as if just looking at her would tell him all he needed to know about.

"W-well I w-was s-s-sleeping i-in m-my b-bedroom w-w-when t-those s-scary m-men c-c-came i-in. I w-was r-really s-s-scared s-so I t-tried t-to s-s-scream b-but t-they w-wouldn't l-let m-me. T-then I t-tried t-to f-fight t-them b-but I c-couldn't b-b-because I a-am t-t-too w-weak." She had started sniffling half way through her story and now she looked as though she was about to start crying at any given moment. Ibiki was panicking, if only slightly. He had dealt with crying women before, hell; he dealt with crying me on a daily basis! Crying children however, that was a whole new level of weeping._ 'Okay just calm her down before she starts crying, ya that should be simple enough'_

"Shhhh, uhh, it's okay Hinata-san you're fine now." He said awkwardly patting her on the back with his hands that were enormous in comparison to then four year old. As an attempt at comfort it was pretty sad, and honestly, if the child had been anyone other than the compliant hyuuga heiress they might have started crying harder.

"N-no i-i-it's n-n-not i-I d-d-dissap-pointed f-f-father a-and n-now h-h-he i-is m-mad a-at m-me b-b-because i-I a-am t-too w-w-w-weak." Though Hinata continued to stutter through her sentences, she had stopped the tears that had wanted to fall down her still chubby, child-like cheeks. This last sentence though had made Ibiki think that maybe, just maybe, the Hokage was right to ask for a full evaluation.

* * *

At exactly 3:00am the next morning Ibiki was in the Sadinime's office about to give him the mission details. Said mission had ended about an hour and half ago when he finally decided he had enough information, that and the fact that Hinata fell asleep halfway through the last question. "First off Hokage-sama I want to apologize to you for my behavior," this woke the hokage up if nothing else, "I shouldn't have been so angry about my mission because frankly sir Hinata-san is not right in head."

"What? What happened during the kidnapping?" Hizuren was genially worried for Hinata. He had met her on numerous occasions and found her utterly adorable to say the least.

"Nothing happened during the kidnapping hokage-sama, but I can say with absolute certainty that she is not entirely stable. In the short evaluation we had I identified at least three psychological phobias," Ibiki said with a slight scowl on his face, he knew Hiashi wasn't a good man to mess up your child this badly in just four years? It was obvious Hiashi couldn't take care of a gold fish let alone an actual human being. Hizuren however was deeply saddened but not entirely surprised. He had always suspected something but he was unable to do anything about it until last night.

"Please go on Ibiki," Sarutobi urged

"Yes sir. The broadest one is most likely her social-phobia. This disorder makes one very nervous and skittish. She fits all of the symptoms perfectly; blushing, stuttering, fidgeting and more. I also believe that she has Atelophobia or the fear of being imperfect. It is now apparent that her father has inhumane standards for his daughter that she tries far too hard to actually reach. His constant berating of her has made her deathly afraid of doing anything wrong, which ironically enough causes her to fail her father's daily training sessions. This one is definetly the worst of the three. Her constant need for perfection has turned her into a sttutering, fidgeting mess. Her father certaintly isn't helping the situation either. Anyway, the third one I have found is Agoraphobia or the fear of embarrassment, yet another result of her father's 'teachings'. She thinks that is she is embarrassed or does something embarrassing she is shaming her entire clan. This particular disorder makes it very difficult for her to have thoughts of her own. It gets worse though. The only thought of her own that I found was that she wants to be a ninja. With these particular disorders, if she ever did become a kunoichi her survival rate would be extremely low sir." Ibiki said all of this with a straight face

"I see," Sarutobi said this while getting up to look out of the large window in his office. He knew about the Haishi situation at home, he'd seen plenty in his crystal ball. '_I swear to Kami that man's supposed 'pep talks' should be illeagal. 'Don't shame the clan, the clan this, the clan that bla bla bla **CLAN!**_' Anyway, back to the problem at hand, "Hmmmm, Ibiki are these conditions permanent or are there cures; if so i would be very interested in hearing them."

"No Hokage-sama, these conditions are not permanent. The cures themselves are very simple, meditation, a large degree of exercise, a change of eviorment would be best, and she would absolutely need guidance; good guidance, and a lot of it. If she doesn't get these things than she's pretty much hopeless." Ibiki said.

"You mean that without these changes to her life she will not get any better?" Sarutobi was genuinely curious, he after all wanted to help this girl to the best of his ability. If he was going to mess up her life he needed to know if it was necessary or not.

"I suppose she would not be completely hopeless, though she would be pretty close to it. Basically what I'm trying to say is that she'd need one helluva miracle and then some if she wanted to do this without any guidance what so ever." Ibiki was getting slightly annoyed with all of the questions, this was a small girl just make a call already. It really was that simple for Ibiki, everyone knew that Ibiki wasn't big on compassion, or careing, or kindness, or, well you get the picture. It was even said that he didn't even show such things to children, which really isn't all that surprising considering his experiences with them. He had never had children, he never had students, most of his comrades often wondered if he even remembered being a child himself.

"So if she were to get all the help she needed, and maybe then some, how long do you think it would be until the conditions disappeared completely?"

"If she were to get all the necessary help and someone, the best you can get preferably, worked with her everyday; I'd say she would be in perfect menat health. But,............This would only be possible if she devoted almost all her time to getting better, that would mean she wouldn't be able to attened academy classes." Ibiki said this in the calm, respectful, un-sarcastic voice that he only ever used around his leader.

"Hmmmm. That could prove to be a problem, unless.........," Hizuren looked almost hesitant as he turned back toword Ibiki, hands clasped in front of him as he sat down in his desk once more,"Unless someone takes her on as an apprentice of sorts."

"What?"

"You heard me Ibiki. would it work if someone took her as an apprentice? By training her she would get the physical exersise she needed, her sensie could order her to meditate to help build chakra and perhaps yoga could be used to build flexibility. Ibiki, I need to know if this plan would work. If Hinata-chan is given to someone as an apprentice instead of getting sent to the academy, would that give her enough time to get better?"

Ibiki looked at his leader in a shocked stupor. Was the Hokage seriously putting that much thought into helping this child? Personally Ibiki would have dropped the subject after he heard how much non-stop help this girl would need to become stable, he supposed that was just one of the many reasons he was not the Hokage. He eyed the mounds of paperwork on Sarutobi's desk, not that he'd want all that work in the first place.

"Ibiki?"

Right the question, would that work? "I'm not exactly sure Hokage-sama, her sensei would need to have an un-paralleled knowledge of the brain and how it worked. They would also have to be dedicated to helping the kid, this sure as hell isn't gonna be a quick, two day kinda mission. Another thing is their actual ability, this can't be some happy-go lucky chunin who just happens to be a helluva genius, the kid's sensei will have to be a really good jonnin and when I say good I really mean great."

Sarutobi was thinking hard, on the one hand getting Hinata's father to agree to this would be worse than pulling teeth from a tiger. While Haishi didn't like or in any way respect Hinata as a father should, he had the clan name to worry about. Even if Haishi himself wouldn't train Hinata it would be hard to get him to let someone else train her. He had understand the need for Hinata to get help, but even as Hizuren thought this he knew it was no use. If he wanted to get Hinata help he would need a better plan than to just go and talk to the clan head.

'_But,' _he thought _'first__ things first,'_"Ibiki what would you say if I asked you to train this girl?"

* * *

So? How was it? I don't have a beta so I didn't really have a second opinion on it, but I hope you liked it all the same.  
As I said before I am very open to criticism and I don't particularly mind flames, also you can state in your review any romantic pairing you think would be good for this story; other than Ibihina, yuri or yoai. Review please!!!


	2. Trickery

Oh my gosh thank you for all your reviews, they made me so happy! As long as I know that people still like my story I'll keep adding chapters. Speaking of, if anyone wants to beta this story I would be very thankful for a second opinion on my chapters before I post them.

Okay, I think I should say this now otherwise some people may get a little confused later on. This story will never really focus on romance even if there are a few fluffy moments. It will be more about how Hinata proves her family, and others, wrong; also how Ibiki makes the slow, but noteworhty change from a cold hearted, distant man to a slightly more tolerant father-like figure to Hinata. Back to the topic of pairings, so far I have 1 for gaahina, 1 for shinohina, 1 for sasuhin, and 2 for shikahina. There was also a mention of a harem, but I think that would be too hard to do without making romance particulary important, sorry Xxkawaii-himexX.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

"W-what!?" Him, Ibiki Morino, lover of torture and pain, be a....... sensei to a four year old girl?!  
Not happening.  
Impossible.  
Incencivable.  
If you were looking for a sensei Ibiki would have to be the very last person on your list and even then having him teach you would be ify at best. To a civilian, and some ninja, Ibiki was a demon with a heart made of ice and eyes like a hawk.

There were reasons why he liked torture missions best, and none of those reasons were especially suitable for children. There were reasons why they picked him to scare off all the genin in the chunin exams. There were reasons why he didn't like having the responsibility of taking care of someone else.  
There were also reasons why he didn't like kids. They were hyper, loud and messy. Ibiki didn't do hyper, loud or messy in any kind of combination. He didn't care how quiet this girl seemed; she was still a kid and deep down, all kids were the same. They liked games like hopscotch and hid'n'seek while he liked to play games to see how fast he could make someone crack.

"Hokage-sama, are you serious?! I can't teach a kid!"Ibiki was on the verge of paniking as he said this. If he was ever going to have a personal crisis; well, now would be a _really _good time to do it. His leader was sitting there asking him to do the one thing he had no idea about!

"Ibiki calm down. I know that you do not deal with children often, or ever for that matter, but I need you to do this. You are the absolute best ninja I have ever seen in the field of torture and interrogation, your knowledge of the brain, its functions, and it's quirks is on a level all its own. If I want to have Hinata-chan ready in time for the genin exam I need to give her the best possible help I can; and Ibiki, whether you like it or not, you are the best." Sarutobi's carefree attitude was missing as he said this, replaced with a chilling, all-knowing calm that showed just how much the third hokage of Konoha had truely seen.

"But---," Ibiki tried to begin, but he was quickly interrupted.

"Ibiki, I don't want any arguments, no -ifs, -ands, or -buts, is that understood," and of course it was," the only thing I want to hear from you next is a simple yes or no, understand?."

Ibiki was torn. On one side he just wanted to yell no. Him actually take care of a child?, the thought was utterly laughable. But on the other-hand, here was his hokage calling him the best he had ever seen in the field of torture. He truly did not want to take care of a child, he did not want to be entrusted with this childs mental health. What if he couldn't deal with the kid? What if he screwed her up even more? As far as he knew he was no better at taking care of children than Haishi; and that was saying something considering Haishi could probably kill a pet rock. The hokage had faith in him though, he thought that Ibiki could do wonders for the child called Hinata, he thought that he could take better care of her than her own father currently was. While Ibiki's two sides battled inside his mind Hizuren was calmly waiting for his answer, knowing that this could very well change the man's life completly.

Eventually Ibiki came to a decision," Yes Hokage-sama. Yes, I will take Hinata Hyuuga as my apprentice."

"Thank you Ibiki, this means more than you could imagine," the hokage's carefree nature was returning as well as his age old smile that made him look like the kind old grandfather that he was. _'One problem down and one more to go. Although the second problem might be just a _little_ bit harder to solve.'  
_

* * *

It had been three days since Ibiki had answered 'yes' to the Hokage. Three days since Hizuren had first started thinking of ways he could get the Hyuuga patriarch to let his daughter get the help she so desperately needed, and three days of many, many dead end ideas.

_'I can't just run up and tell him the truth, he'd blow some kind of royal gasket! If I lie straight to his face he'll blow another gasket, and neither of those plans will get him to give some of Hinata's custody away. Alas, if only he were Tsunade, all I'd have to do is get him drunk enough to say yes. It would be easy to trick him that way. Sadly though I do not believe my dear clan leader gets drunk, and when he does I get the impression he'd be even more of a stubborn ass to deal with than when he's sober. But, maybe if I could just .........................'_

"That's it!" Hizuren woke up from his thoughts with a jolt. And with that Sarutobi's three days of mental torture were over, all he had to do now was arange a meeting with the royal-pain-in-his-behind himself.

* * *

_**Later that day......**_

The Hokage was bowed to by the hyuuga guards as he walked through their gates, and again by the servants of the household as he strode through the hallways and into the study of Haishi Hyuuga. This hyuuga in-particular gave him a slightly higher bow that most certainly did not show the proper respect to ones leader. Normally Hizuren would make it obvious that he knew this and challenge the hyuuga's pride and occasionaly, on a bad day, his loyalty. Today was different though, considering the Hokage needed the man in a fair mood. So he begrudgingly let it slide as he sat down in the chair opposite of Haishi's.

"What brings you to my household today Hokage-sama? Certainly nothing too important," As always the mans face was painted with a look of indifference and boredom, though if you were accustomed to dealing with hyuuga's than you might, might, have noticed the slight look of intrigue in Haishi's eyes.

"I'm afraid it is fairly important indeed, especially to you. You see Hyuuga-san it is about your daughter, Hinata, and the kidnapping that took place five days ago. I had my head of interrogation and torture give her a thorough evaluation and he found that poor Hinata-chan has developed some.......psychological problems." All of this was true.

"Because of the kidnapping I presume?"

Sarutobi just gave him a small sad, almost apologetic smile. One that could be interpreted in many different ways mind you. Haishi choose to take it as conformation to his previous statement.

"I see. This is a slight problem then isn't it," _'Slight problem? Your daughter is in danger of having a mental break down and you think it's a 'slight problem'? There is something very wrong with this man,' _the hokage thought," I suppose I could try to help, but I wouldn't know what to do first. What do you suggest Hokage-sama," A small twitch of Haishi's lips was all Sarutobi needed to see to tell that Haishi already had a plan, and considering the clan leaders past for being kind.....none of his plans were going to help Hinata in any way, shape, or form.

"Well, I have already asked one of my ninjas if they could possibly help Hinata with her problems. Though I have no doubt that you would be able to help Hinata if you knew how, but her disorders are very serious. By trying to help you might actually make them worse," _On second thought I have no doubt that you would make it worse, considering you're the problem!'_,"I think that if you could just let one of my approved ninja take care of Hinata she would be cured much faster, and you could have your heir back. Besides, I'm sure you have much more pressing matters to attend to. I heard your second wife, Tsumarinai, is expecting a child, is this true?"

"Yes Hokage-sama that is correct. I do hope it is a male and even if it is not than at least let her be stronger than my first born; it really is a shame don't you think? How poor a ninja, and person i suppose, Hinata turned out to be; considering how much trouble she gave her late mother when she was born." There was a tinge of bitterness in his voice though he thought to blame his late first wife's sickness on his daughter.

"Yes, I suppose it is a shame," _'Only if your an emotionless ass hole of course.'_

"I'm glad you agree, back to the matter at hand though. You said Hinata had been diagnosed with mental disabilities? I doubt you would mind telling me a little more about these 'disabilities'," A small smirk, a smug voice wrapped in an emotionless case and voila! You have the prick known as Haishi Hyuuga.

"There are three that we know of Hyuuga-san, but all three of them stem from traumatization. If they are not treated as fast as possible and with the utmost care than they could escalate drastically," Once again all of this was true, as long as Haishi didn't ask where these disabilities came from he didn't have to know that he was the one who caused them.

"Hokage-sama you know full well that I cannot just hand over my hier, it would not only be embaressing, but it is also impractical; letting the hie to a clan like the hyuuga go galavanting of doing Kami knows what. I'm sure you understand this so I must ask, would this..........process take very long? I am afraid I am simply unable to spare her for a long period of time." Haishi was logicaly considering the pros and cons of this dessision, and as long as the Hokage played his cards right, the pros were going to win.

"No, not a terribly long time at all," _'After all, what's seven or eight years compared to a whole entire life time? Especialy mine.'_

"Hmm, than I suppose you could take care of this for me? You were quite right when you said I had more important things to worry about. Hinata is only four and I can already tell she is more or less a lost cause. If she will not be gone very long than giving custody over to you won't be a horrible dessision at all." Though this is where the clan head ended his sentence, but Hizuren could hear the unsaid words of Haishi. _"You would be doing me a great favor, if I don't have to waste my time traing a usless daughter than I can spend more time fixing the clan and getting ready for my new child."_

"So does this mean that you are going to sign over custody to me and the ninja of my choosing?" _'Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes!!! Do this one kind thing for your daughter!'_

"If you have a contract I can read I am willing to sign it, as long as you swear she will not be gone long. She is the hieress after all." Indifference was clear as Haishi said this. There was no doubt in the Hokage's mind that Haishi didn't like Hinata, for what reasons he could not fathom. Hizuren quickly swore in half-truth and words with double meanings. Not waiting for Haishi to think it over any longer Hizuren put the contract on the desk that sat between them. The contract itself was very ambiguous; there were no set dates or times. If Haishi was not in the frame of mind that Hizuren put him in there would have been no way Haishi would have signed the contract. But, Haishi's mind filled in the missing dates based soley on Sarutobi's half-truths. After all was said and done Haishi went back to writing and Sarutobi walked out the door. Almost giddy at the fact that he had effectivly tricked the Hyuuga head. _'Who knew I could lie and tell the truth at the same time,'_ He smiled happily at that thought finding it very funny.

But, he did not trun to leave. Instead of turning towards the exit though, he turned left, then crouched next to a child, curled up, leaning against a wall, trying not to let anyone hear her cry. She wasn't doing a very good job of it but all the same it looked like no one was coming.

"Hello Hinata-ko, I suppose you heard what your father said in there didn't you," Though Hizuren's voice was steady and soft, Hinata still flinched at the sound of someone next to her. She then looked up at the man and nodded her head almost unattainably. He sighed," You know what Hinata-ko? I think you should come to my office later, okay? Here, give your father this note and tell him I told you to make sure that you get to my office. This way I can answer all the questions you want me to, and I can ask a few of my own. Does that sound good to you?" He handed her a note and smiled a little while he said this.

Hinata looked up at him in slight shock, as though no one had treated her so kindly in a long time," Y-y-yes, H-h-h-hokage-s-sama."

This answer was rewarded with a warm smile that probably hadn't been seen in the compound since the death of Hinata's mother. "Very good Hinata-ko. By the way, why don't you call me jii-san from now on alright? I think I like jii-san better than boring old Hokage-sama anyway."

This brought the smile Sarutobi had been waiting for as the four year old nodded her head enthusiastically, or at least as enthusiastically as someone can get when they have only just stopped crying," Good, I will see you later then Hinata-ko," and the Hokage turned and started to walk away.

"O-okay, bye jii-san!" It was still quiet, but that was the least Hinata Hyuuga had stuttered in over a year and a half. The soft smile that was on Hizuren's face slowly enlarged as he waved one last time before he turned the corner. Maybe this will all work out.

* * *

Hinata silently walked next to the branch member that her father had assigned to her, as always the branch member was quiet and distant; if Hinata was being truthful she would have also told you that he was cold. All of them were cold to her. Her father was not coming with her because he was too busy to simply go on a walk; that is what he had told her, but she knew the truth. He saw it as a waste of his time, walking with his failure of a daughter. If she was not worth the training he gave her why was she worthy of his presence? That was the question Hinata hated most.  
Why?  
Why was the family separated? Because that is how it has always been, so they said.  
Why did the branch house have green writing on their foreheads? Because the main house wanted control.  
Why wasn't she allowed to play in the dirt with other kids? Because it was not appropriate for her status.  
Why was her Neji-nii-san being so mean to her? Because she killed his father.  
Yes, Hinata hated whys most of all.

As they approached the door the branch member bowed an exaggerated bow and bid a farewell to Hinata-_sama._  
She was snapped out of her thoughts as the nice secretary showed her a bowl of candy, which Hinata readily picked a piece out of. The secretary would have looked utterly ferocious if it were not for the lovely bowl of candy she was holding and the way he brown eyes were soft as they looked at her. She had large blood red triangles on her cheeks as well as sharp teeth that showed when she smiled, but Hinata thought she looked nicer than almost anyone she had ever met. As Hinata put the blueberry sucker into her mouth the Hokage stepped out of his office.

"Hana, I see you've met little Hinata-ko. If you would be kind enough to let me borrow her for a little bit." Sarutobi then reached out and guided the small girl into his office once more; though Hana Inuzuka was able to catch the small girl's shy wave before the door shut.

"Sorry to rush you inside like that Hinata-ko, but I have someone I want you to meet," Hizuren guided Hinata to a smaller chair he had put in his office when he got back from the compound,"His name is Ibiki Morino and he was the man who spoke to you a little while back, do you remember him?"

To Hinata the answer to that question was fairly obvious, of course she remembered him. He was a little gruff, he intimidated her a lot, but the way he talked to her was, well, refreshing. He was not overly harsh with her, but he was firm; he waited patiently through her stuttering and blushing, calmly asking the questions. At the same time though, he did not give her pity, which was the opposite of how the civilians treated her. She knew what pity was, she got it all the time when she went out with her father when she was a little younger and presently when she would go to the market with a branch member, always a few steps behind as clan etiquette dictated. She did not always know what it was for, but one thing was positive; she hated it. But, instead of saying any of this to her newly acquired jii-san, she simply replied, "H-hai, jii-san." There was no real need for him to know the rest.

Just because Hinata did not openly share her opinion of Ibiki did not mean Sarutobi did not see parts of it. He saw, for instance, the way she looked happier at his name, and the slight bit of curiousness that was always present in the eyes of every child. This was a great relief to the third Hokage, as long as Hinata likes Ibiki his plan will run smoothly. Well, for the most part anyway. At least he hoped it would.

"Hello Hokage-sama, I am here to report on my last mission" Well speak of the devil, right on time as always.

"Good I'm glad to see you Ibiki, but that mission report can wait until tomorrow. Right now I would like you to say hello to my guest." said Hizuren

Ibiki turned his head just enough to see red cheeks and a bowed head of bright blue hair, " Hello Hinata-san it is nice to see you again," Hinata could only wave back to the imposing man as he turned back to her new jii-san. "Hokage-sama does this mean that you already........," He let his sentance drift as he looked to the third for an answer.

"Yes, yes that is correct she is now in our complete custody until you feel she is ready to return. All that is left is to tell her what is going on,"

_'Oh is that all'_Ibiki thought sarcastically, "I suppose you are going to do this Hokage-sama," It was really more of a statement than a question, both men knew that at the moment Ibiki was more likely to break the child's heart than to actually get her to understand the sticky situation they were all in right now.

"Of course," Hizuren said this to Ibiki then got out of his chair and walked over to a now deeply confused Hinata. "Hianta-ko did you hear what your father and I were talking about at your house earlier?" He got a small nod in response,"I don't know if you completely understand what this means but basicly your father signed a contract with me that says you are going to stay with Ibiki for a while, got it?"

"B-but w-why d-do I h-have t-to s-stay t-there jii-san?" Hinata was having trouble warping her head around this new twist in her life. Why did her dad give her upp 'for a while'? Had she done something wrong? Did he not want her anymore? These, along with many other questions were spinning in her head with ferocious speed.

"Hinata I want you to listen very closely. You did absolutely nothing wrong this is just something that needs to be done and it has nothing to do with anything you have done, understand?" Hizuren didn't have to be phsycic to know what was going through Hinata's mind and he wasn't about to let those thought grow into anything more than thoughts.

"Y-yes jii-san," she would agree quietly and without question, at least for now.

"Perfect. Now, with that over with, I think you and Hinata can go and get settled Ibiki," said Sarutobi.

"But Hokage-sama my apartment is only suitable for one person and one that is rarely there at that. I don't have much of anything a child would enjoy in my pantry either; is it possible to wait until I at least have a second bed set up?" Ibiki's apartment truely did resemble a small gray box. No colour on the walls, no personal pictures or items and there was only one bed in the entire place. Ibiki had really hoped he have time to do some redecorating before he tried to screw this kid's head on straight.

"Those little problems are already taken care of," Hizuren said.

"Excuse me for asking Hokage-sama, but exactly how were these problems 'taken care of'," It wasn't that Ibiki did not trust or respect his Hokage (he wouldn't be here if he didn't). It was just that, well, Sarutobi's sense of humor must have gotten slightly warped by his growing age because he finds it increasingly amusing to, errrrr, trick his ninja. Just last month Hayate's chewing needles were, somehow, dipped in a mixture that resembled cough syrup, but with the side effects of laughing gas. Hayate now cleans a needle every time he puts a new one in his mouth.

"That's simple Ibiki," A mischievous smile was making it's way to Sarutobi's lips, no this couldn't be good at all," I sold your apartment and bought you a house. I have already had it painted and furnished, all you need to do is walk in; even the fridge is full." Well this was slightly unexpected.

"Umm, thank you Hokage-sama, that was extremely generous of you to do such a thing; but I could have bought one myself if you thought it was necessary." Ibiki said

"No no it was my pleasure Ibiki," That mischevious smile was still on his Hokage's face, there had to be more.

Ibiki warily took his eyes off of his Hokage and turned slightly to see Hinata, who had got up from the chair to stand by her new gaurdian for the next few years. "I suppose we should get going then Hinata," She only nodded in respose; mind still realing from the abrupt change in, well, everything.

"Very good, here are your keys Ibiki," said the Hokage while handing Ibiki a new looking pair of keys that had a silver like shine to them.

Ibiki thanked his Hokage once more and bowed good-bye; as did Hinata. Before he got to the door though he turned around to face the third once more," I forgot to ask Hokage-sama, where exactly is this new house?"

It was then that Hizuren's smile widened; as if he had been waiting for that very question," Oh goodness me, how could I forget! Your house number is 2259 on Henko street. It's in a very nice little **civilian** sector near the **center**of the village." And the bomb was dropped.

* * *

And that ladies and gentelman was the end of chapter two. Poor Ibiki living in a crowded town with civilians, I thought a little humor would be good to add. So as you know I would love it if you would review my story and once again I'm looking for a beta so I don't have to worry about not catching **every **single mistake I have. Ya, anyway please review after reading!


	3. Progress

Once again thank you for the reviews they make me so happy when I read them! okay so as of now the pairing situation stands at; 1 gaahina, 2 shinohina, 3 sasuhina and 3 shikahina. If you have another pairing you think you would be a cute sidenote than you can just add it in your review and I'll make sure to make a tally for it. Oh ya I have officially decided to put AnkoIbiki in this story.  
Anyway on to chapter three!

* * *

The sky was losing its color, now turning a dull grey-blue with hints of orange and pink where one could only asume the sun had been just moments ago. The houses that decorated the area were all a fair size, made for a family of about three; two parents and a child. Their appearance, however, was very similar; you know the drill, white picket fences, trimed green lawn with a flower bed in front, and pink floral cutains stood in almost every kitchen window.

"Well isn't this quaint," the sarcastic comment was said by a tall man in his late twenties, early thirties, with a scar streaching verticaly across his left eye. Ibiki, with his charcaol trench coat and ninja headband, was a stark contrast in comparison to the softer more casual clothes of the civilians usually seen there. He looked like he'd rather be used as target practice than standing in front of that house; but judging by the small blue-haired girl pulling on his hand he didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

After stepping through the robins egg blue door, that was curtosy of the hokage no doubt, Ibiki took a good look around the rest of his 'new home'. Hizuren, for all his twisted humor, had picked the perfect house for them. It had two stories with a living room, kitchen, sound proof basment that would make a perfect training center, two bedrooms and two bathrooms, not too big, not too small. That combined with the sickeningly colorful pastels everwhere made it the ideal place for kids, and really wierd adults but lets **not** get into specifics on that. But back to those colors; it was as if _someone_ had put them there to purposfully iratate Ibiki. If they had been, let me be the one to say that it was definetly working.

Hinata, however, was in awe at everything around her; the colors were new and exciteing, the furniature was softer more inviting than anything she had ever seen before, even the food she found in the kitchen was so strange and unlike the traditional, formal things she had eaten back.......home. At least that is what she supposed it was, but the Hokage had said that she was living with Ibiki-san for now, so did that mean that this was her home now? If it was Hinata really didn't think that she would mind,....no that was stupid. She was supposed to want to be back with her father, right? With the rest of her family, that was where she belogned. But,........what if she liked it here?

Hinata shook her head back and forth, as if that would stop the thoughts from coming through. While she did this Ibiki watched her, years of torturing people had made it easy to know what they were thinking. He sighed, it seemed that nothing going through this kid's mind was particularly positive. It looked like someone had just asked her to make a life or death decision. Maybe they had, who knew and unless he wanted to get a Yakamana he wasn't going to ever know exactly what was going on in her head; no matter how hard he tried. One more sigh and he started walking.

"Hinata, I think you should go see your room here. For the time being at least, this will be your home, understood?" His voice was firm, solid, not exactly comforting, but his words were what Hinata really needed to hear.

She tenetivly nodded her head, and followed him. He did not solve her problem, but he did remind her that she did not need to worry about that sort of thing right now, nor would she need to for some time.

Her mood was restored to its former glory as she stepped into her new room, it really did seem as if everything was new today. The room was wonderful, pale blue walls accentuated the scenes and picture painted everywhere. Flowers, jungles, animals, castles you name it and Hinata could find it there. The two windows in her room let in more natural light than every room in the Hyuuga compound combined, her bed was almost as great as her pictures. It was a twin bed, but it looked so puffy that it made Hinata want to run and jump on it, something she had never done before in her life.

"So, would you like to have dinner now or later? It's gettin' a little late," It was only 7:30 but how was he supposed to know when kids went to bed. Maybe he should ask the Hokage that one.......

"U-u-umm m-maybe n-now, w-w-would b-be o-okay w-with y-y-you?" That stuttering would **have** to be the first thing that went, that along with her persistant need to fidget.

Ibiki nodded his head once before turning around and starting his walk to the kitchen leaving Hinata to scamper from her place by the bed to rush after the older man's long strides. The kitchen was pretty, a light caramel shade coated the walls with honey colored wood floors and dark brown cabinets. Ibiki started to go through cuboards looking for good sandwich and a few minutes later Ibiki was eating his dinner; till he turned around---only to find Hinata standing in the same spot she was when she first came in.

Ibiki swallowing his bite of sandwich said, "I thought you were going to eat, aren't you hungry?" He was answered with a nod. "Then make yourself a sandwich, it's fine, this is your house too now," This was getting just a tad bit akward.

"I-I u-umm, w-w-well, u-umm I-I d-don't k-know h-how t-to," Hinata was blushing with what he supposed was embaresment. She didn't know how? Didn't four year olds make their own food, or maybe they still had food cooked for them. He didn't really know the answer so he just added it to his mental list of questions to ask the Hokage about children.

"Oh, do you- would you like to...learn how?" Ibiki asked

* * *

This was wierd, he didn't know if he liked this at all. Normaly Ibiki was the same everyday, relativly silent, slightly sadistic and if the guys at work saw him now they would think he was going crazy. He was helping Hinata make her third sandwich because, apperently, sandwiches and all other finger foods were not 'proper' food in the Hyuuga house hold. Hinata had certainly been makeing up for lost time.

He didn't know what he expected to be doing when he told the Hokage that he would help this girl, but makeing and teaching her how to make sandwiches wouldn't have been one of his first guesses.

"U-umm I-I-Ibiki-san I-I'm d-done n-now. T-thank y-y-you v-v-very m-m-much f-for m-makeing m-me t-t-those s-s-sandwiches I-I l-liked t-them a-alot."

"That's fine Hinata, it's a little late are you tired?" Ibiki was getting a little tired himself, who would have thought that makeing food for a kid could be such hard work? Or maybe it was more mental exaustion from todays escapades. Whatever it was he needed to hit the hay.

"Y-yes I-I a-am I-I w-w-would l-like t-to g-g-go t-to b-bed," Ibiki streached in preperation to get up from the chair he had plopped himself in, only to see Hinata still looking at him; just like with the sandwiches.

"You said you were tired, why aren't you going to your room?" This was too wired. First the sandwich thing now this? What on Earth could be keeping her from going to bed?

"I-I w-was j-just w-w-waiting f-for y-y-you t-to d-dismiss m-m-me, t-that i-is w-what o-oto-s-sama d-d-did w-w-when I-I w-wanted t-to g-go t-to b-b-bed," Hianta said. Sometimes she had to respectfuly wait for up to twenty minutes for her father to dismiss her.

Ibiki sighed, "Hinata I think we should go over the new rules okay? Anything you did at the Hyuuga or anything your father did is probably not going to happen here. The only rules I have are to listen when I give directions and don't leave the house without me; other than that you can do whatever you want. This is not the Hyuuga house hold, you don't have to be so......proper and polite. No one here is going to call you on it if you don't."

Not proper and polite? Was that even possible? Hinata really and truely did not know. All her life it had been rules, regulations and more rules. One mistake resulted in a weeks worth of gruleing traing sessions; was it really possible that this man who barely knew her was going to let her do whatever she wanted? Her, the failure of the Hyuuga, was going to be set free of all rules? It seemed impossible, it could not be real. Ibiki seemed so nice, but Hinata knew that she would have to watch Ibiki-san carefuly from now on; to make sure that he didn't go reporting her every mistake to her father.

Ibiki watched Hinata go off to her bed and only when she was out of the room did he slump in his chair. Who knew that this was going to be such hard work? They hadn't even started training yet and already he was having problems. Ibiki sincerly hoped that this would get easier, but sadly the adventures of Hinata and Ibiki had only just began.

* * *

It had been officially four days since Ibiki and Hinata had moved into the new house, with very little improvment concerning Hinata. It seemed that after their first conversation that night she had gone out of her way to be as prim, proper and polite as she possibly could. Ibiki had no idea what was going on but he had to set the record straight because if he didn't no amount of time he spent with hinata was going to do any good at all.

It was around 12:30 in the afternoon and Hinata had once again finished cutting her sandwich into dainty, ladylike bites. She really did have disgustingly good manners.

"Hinata," Ibiki said. Her head snapped up in his direction, though they had been there a total of four days the conversation between them was fairly pitiful. "Do you remember our conversation when we first got here? I told you that you didn't have to act so polite but I'm changing that. From this point till I say different you are not allowed to be so proper and crap like that. There is no one here that you need to impress so I want you to stop acting like it," Maybe that was a little harsh but he was not going to sit here and wait for her to snap herself out of this. They only had so much time and Ibiki needed all the time he could get to both cure and train Hinata.

"W-what!",Hinata exclaimed. Was he crazy? Not allowed to be proper? Was he off his rocker? "B-but, w-w-what i-if o-oto-s-sama f-finds o-out?", Hinata could imagine hunderads of scenerioes, most of which involved her immeadiate disownment, none of which were pleasant.

Ibiki sighed,"Hinata I believe I have already told you once that no one here is going to critize you for being improper, and I for one am certainly not going to run to your dad like some kind of sissy." Ibiki would have like to add that he didn't even like the man, but it may be just little to soon to tell her exactly what kind of man her father actually was.

Was this really happening, was she escaping all of the rules? More importantly was she ready to? It didn't look like it mattered considering that as a rule she was not allowed to obey any rules, quite a strange concept. "I-ibiki-san d-do y-y-you p-p-promise?" She held out her pinki to the older man.

He just kind of stared at her, before taking her much smaller pinki in his, sealing the deal in Hinata's mind. She broke into a smile, not an overly large one, but cosiderably bigger than the ones she usually gave everyone. It was small, but it was the first amount of progress he'd seen since they got here and all Ibiki did was make a pinki swear. Maybe this would be easier than he thought.

"Now that that's over time for a reminder, sandwiches," he picked up one of her pieces," are _finger_ food.", he popped the piece into he mouth causing Hinata to giggle. Progress, not matter how small, was still progress.

* * *

Now that Ibiki's biggest road block-so far-was gone he was free to continue treating Hinata. The only problem was figuring out how to start. He had a lot to fix and even more ways to do it and he didn't know where he could start. Some people went straight for the biggest problem, while others started in the sub sections of the bigger problem working their way up till the problem was gone. Ibiki had never tried something like this before and he didn't have time to go through trial and error finding a way that he liked best so he would just have to chose one and roll with it. Don't forget that he also had to train her, she was his appretice after all.

He had to do a lot with this girl so it was best to just start from the bottom and work his way up. The first step would be her stuttering, he was doing this first for two reasons; one it was a result of all three of her disorders and therefore a pretty important contributor when concerning her embaressment problem. His second reason was just because it annoyed him **that** much.

The easiest most accepted way of doing this was by constant proper speech. In Hinata's case Ibiki was going to use a slightly different, but hopefuly equally effective treatment. Books. Ibiki may not have looked it, but he loved to read books; of any kind really. If he could get Hinata to sit with him and aloud from a book the constant speaking may push her stutter away. It was the same concept as the conversation thing, but with an added bonus. He would go out and buy useful books like ones on nin-jutsu and tai-jutsu and weapons and such. This way Hinata would be learning as well as fixing her speach impeadiment. Well, that was the plan anyway.

"Hinata, I think it's time we started training," Ibiki said as they were eating breakfast.

Hinata's eyes grew large and she very nearly dropped her dango. No! No no no they couldn't train. Everything would fall apart, the small conversations and neutral, sometimes amused and almost kind looks; they would all disappear. If Ibiki spent even one hour training her he would see how weak she really was, then he would leave her. He would leave, just like her oto-sama, and find someone much _much_ better than she was, someone who was worth his time, someone her oto-sama wouldn't be ashamed of.

"B-bu-but I-I d-d-don't w-w-want t-t-to t-t-train y-y-yet, I-I d-d-don't t-t-think i-i-it's a-a g-good i-idea," it was a futile attempt to stop the training session, a futile attempt at stoping the thing Hinata dreaded most.

"You'll be fine Hinata, and besides, it's my choice when we train and _I _think that we _should_ train now," that was that then. Everything Hinata had just gotten used to was going to be shattered, it would all change and Ibiki would act just like her oto-sama; distant, ashamed, disgusted. Hinata had known, deep down, that this would never really last, she had prepared herself to leave or for Ibiki to suddenly change his mind about her. Here was the thing though,....she honestly didn't expect it to hurt so much. With a resigned sigh and the look of a man on death row Hinata got up and followed Ibiki to wherever he was leading her.

When Ibiki stopped Hinata curiously lifted her head up, wondering where the training woul be taking place, only to find that she was standing in the living room. Well this wasn't right, how were they supposed to fight insidde the living room? She turned to Ibiki who had, for some stange reason, sat on the biege love-seat.

"Okay Hinata, lets start our training," Ibiki said reaching behind him. Hinata imeadiatly reacted, sliding her feet into a slightly too wide juken stance, waiting for any sign of an attack when------Ibiki laughed at her. Was her stance really that bad? She slowly slid back into a neutral stance staring questioningly at the man in the chair.

"W-w-w-why a-a-a-are y-y-y-you l-l-l-laughing a-a-at m-m-me?" Hinata'a stuttering worsened at the idea that she had, once again, greatly embaressed herself.

"It- it's nothing Hinata; it's just that, we're not traing like that," what? "We are going to train useing these," Ibiki said while holding up a few books he had pulled from the case behind him.

"B-but b-books a-aren't t-training," Hinata said genuily puzzled. Her oto-sama always trained her the same way, by fighting her. He always said that this was the best way, and the only way, to learn how to be a ninja. Being that he had said this to her only three months ago, it was still very fresh in her mind,"M-my o-oto-sama s-said t-t-that t-the o-o-only w-way t-t-to t-t-train i-is b-by f-f-fighting."

Ibiki frowned. Was this guy serious? Screwing up a girl by age four is hard in and of itself; but simultainiusly preparing her to screw up as a ninja? Who knew one man could do damage as a father. There really should be restrictions on who can and can't become a parent. "Hinata I think I've already touched on this, but right now I am going to make it as clear as humanly possible, alright?" Hinata nodded,"Your father was wrong. On many things, but all you need to know is that pretty much everything your father told you is **wrong,**"

Wrong? Her oto-sama was......wrong? Was that even possible, for her oto-sama to be wrong? If, by chance, he was wrong, about everything, than....Hinata's whole life could change. Maybe it was possible that she wasn't a complete failure, was there a chance of that? Maybe and maybe not, but all you need to know is that Hinata was thouroghly confused. Telling her that her oto-sama was wrong is like telling someone that a rock was poofy. It was impossible, it defyed all logic so therefore it could not possibly be true. Hinata's entire thought process was based on everything her father had told her over the years; albit only two out of the four years she had lived with him, she had actualy been able to comprehend what he was saying.

'Your father was wrong.' Those four words had so much power over her. That one sentence had the power to change her life................................. ..................if only she would believe it herself.

"T-t-that i-isn't p-p-possible. M-my o-oto-sama i-is a-always r-right. H-he s-said s-s-so," Hinata had no intention of changing her views on the subject anytime soon; but thankfuly everything does not always go as planned.

"But Hinata your oto was wrong about never being wrong, that means that I'm right." _'No it didn't'_ thought Hinata stubbornly.

This just might have been the first time Hinata had never given in on somthing. Usualy she bended this way and that to please everyone and their brother, but this time she was acting like well.....a child. The thought brought a small, pretty much non-existant smile to Ibiki's face, this was big progress. It may not be the most helpful progress at the moment, but still, it was a good sign. Well, it was a good sign as long as he could get her to believe him. Otherwise any progress she makes will not matter if she still believes her father's twisted words of so called wisdom.

Ibiki sighed before begining again," Hinata, you have to know that everyone is wrong at some point or another, your father just happens to be wrong more times than he is right. He was wrong when he told you that the only way you could train was by fighting. Do you know how I know this? Because the Hokage told me that studying proves just as efficient in young children and it helps sharpen your mind. Are you going to tell me that your jii-san was wrong?" He had her there and she knew it. When it came down to it, no matter how much of a fuss Hinata wanted to raise, if the contest was between her oto-sama and her jii-san she would pick her jii-san. The thought felt something like betrayal towards her oto-sama but she could not bring herself to say that her jii-san was wrong, she just couldn't.

But....if her oto-sama was wrong about this than that means that he was wrong when he said he was always right and if that was true, than how many other things was he wrong about?

Everything her oto-sama had ever said to her, she took straight to heart; whether she knew it or not.

When she was 2 and a half she started stuttering a little when she spoke. Her oto-sama got upset with her and told her she was so useless she could scarcely complete a sentance without stuttering. During the next few months this became true.

When she was three she showed bad manners at the dinner table, her oto-sama had said that she should have been ashamed of herself for disrespecting her clan. That was when she started to blush in embaressment at everything she did.

A few months later her oto-sama saw her trying to be nice to a branch member, he used the curse seal on the man she was talking to. In the weeks that fallowed Hinata flinched and fidgeted at almost every movment, worried another curse seal was going to be activated.

Everything had only gotten worse in the years that followed.

Hinata did the only thing that she could think of at the time. She cried. She sniffled and wiped at her eyes until she sat down beside Ibiki.

While Hinata was doing this it was Ibiki's turn to be confused. How the hell was he supposed to know what to do now? He wasn't good with this part of the job. He would be sent in, make the suspect wimper a little, scare them, sometimes make them cry. After he did that there was always some other person who would come in and calm them down. It was usually some woman who would occasionaly give him a dirty look and go on rubbing the suspects back and whispering stuff that Ibiki never stayed around to listen to. A small part of that thought clicked with Ibiki and he, very akwardly, started to rub the small girls back; waiting for her to stop crying.

_'I-is Ibiki..comforting me?'_ Hinata thought. The Hyuuga clan was not especially well known for it's lovely family life, comfort was something that one found almost no where. But here was a man who she scarcely knew, and he was trying to make her feel better. If anyone in her clan had seen her crying they would have scoffed or smirked or something like that.

"T-thank y-you Ibiki-san," Hinata said smileing

Ibiki sighed very glad that whole escapade was over,"Hinata, it's Ibiki-sensei now. I am teaching you remember?" He smiled as she blushed a very bright red and nodded to him.

"O-o-okay t-then Ibiki-sensei. C-c-can w-w-we s-s-start t-t-training n-now?" Ibiki nodded his head at her, his non-exsistant smile now just big enough for Hinata to see it.

"Of course," Ibiki said handing her one of the smaller books," this book is on chakra control. I want you to start reading, aloud, till I telll you to stop."

"Y-yes Ibiki-sensei,"

It turned out that Hinata was not an awful reader as many would have thought. By the end of chapter one she only stuttered when she did not know a word.

It was progress, maybe a little smaller than Ibiki would have liked but it was still progress. It would take a very long time to get Hinata well again and Ibiki wasn't about to make it worse by rushing her.

* * *

Well? How was it? I thought this was a pretty good chapter but I wrote it so I geuss that would a biased opinion.  
I would like to know a little somthing about Hinata's stay with Ibiki. I need you to tell me whether you want me to skip by years or just write important parts or if you want me to do the whole thing. Also I still need a beta. Well, that's pretty much everything. Review Please!


	4. Of Mission Partners

Hi everyone, I decided that I'm going to do chapters by years, like last time she was five now she's six then seven and so on until she's a genin.

Thank you to all the following who reviewed: sumerkiss, OnlyTheBest123, Insanity-Red, godricismine12, TL, RoyalDragoon, hinatasguardian, KarateGirl654, LindaLamsonLayronLunfacol, charlotte, Rangerfan58, nra40, WolfWings-MoonNight, xAngel-of-Hellx, Kira Acumichi, Sepsis, taiga-tan1000, and wisdom-jewel.

Also thanks to my beta Simmering-Tofu :)

Pairings: Shikahina-6 Sasuhina-4 Gaahina-4 Shinohina-3 and I've decided not to put naruhina just because she's not going to have any real reason to adore him like there was in the anime/manga.

Disclaimer: yes i know i forgot last time jeeze you'd think people would know that no one on this site owns Naruto; yes that does include me.

* * *

"Ibiki, Hina-ko! How are you two doing? Still good I hope?" The Hokage did not bother knocking on the pale blue door; after a year of visiting the jounin and his charge Hizuren found it easier to simply to walk inside the house to meet its occupants.

"Jii-san! Y-your here!" A small child came running too the old man. At six years old Hinata was still a tiny girl but she was no longer a blured outline of a child. Instead of a girl who used to hide in corners when someone walked in, Hinata now ran to meet her jii-san and had a larger smile on her face than anyone would have ever thought possible. Just seeing her improvement made Hizuren smile.

A slightly grumpy looking Ibiki walked out of the door after her. He didn't have his signature coat on, but instead, a loose gray T-shirt and a pair of black sweatpants; his military cut brown hair was visible and just a little shaggier than usual. Hizuren, though he wasn't positive, could have sworn that there was remnants of a marker swirls on his cheek. Hizuren chuckled slightly under his breath, Hinata wasn't the only one who had changed this past year.

"Hina-ko?" Hizuren, for all his years, was crouched down to Hinata's level, "Would you mind going outside to play for a little bit? Ibiki and I have a few things to talk about."

"U-um, w-what kind of thing d-do you and Ibiki-sensei h-have to talk about jii-san?"

"Nothing too important Hina-ko, just old man stuff," Hinata giggled as Ibiki scowled a little, but otherwise nodded at the Hokage's statement. Though Ibiki obviously wasn't a teenager anymore, Hinata couldn't bring herself to think of him heavily wrinkled with chalk white hair like her jii-san's.

"O-okay, bye jii-san, Ibiki-sensei!" She was already half way out the when she said this.

Once she was gone Ibiki turned back to the Hokage, "Old man stuff? What is this really about Hokage-sama," Hizuren's smile was now nothing more than a thin line.

"Your right this isn't a house call. Hiashi came to my office yesterday," At the mere mention of the name Ibiki appeared to sit up little straighter and his eyes deadly predatory glint to them, "I am not going to tell you everything that went on, but to sum it up he came in to demanded his daughter back and I refused, then showed him the contract again. He told me, in a more elegantly worded fashion than this, that he didn't give a rat's ass whether she was sane or not and I, once again, refused him the right to take her back. He doesn't care about her Ibiki, I would go as far as to say he might even hate her for no other reason than not being precisely what he wants," the worry lines on his leathery face were getting deeper as he spoke, "If he has his way Ibiki, she's as good as dead."

"What, exactly, does he 'want' Hokage-sama?" It had always seemed to him that the man was like a block of ice; cold to everyone. He was indifferent to everything - people, plants, animals, anyone with a heart could easily forget he was a human, and a father of two at that.

"Perfection Ibiki. He needs it, he craves it, he lives off of it. The whole entire clan was raised on notions of a certain type of perfection, the kind that rids you of all emotions, the kind that makes you seek more and more power no matter what the cost, no matter how much you already have. He wants the perfect ninja Ibiki and let's face it-the chances of Hinata becoming Hiashi's view of perfection are slim at the very best; she's kind and sweet and sympathetic to anyone and everything. She is the epitome of what Hiashi is trying to rid his clan of."

The two men stood still, their stotic frames and dark moods didn't fit the pastel house, the fluffy pillows that encased the couch or the bright crayons laying on the coffee table. The one thing their moods did match though, was the thoughts of the six year old girl sitting below one of the open windows.

* * *

He hates me. He wants to kill me. I'm not perfect so he wants me gone. Forever and ever.

No, that's not true. They're lying. He loves me. He has to. He's my father.

But jii-san is the Hokage. He can't lie. Can he? But if he can't lie that means that otou-sama hates me. That means...he wants...to...kill me.

If he does it can only be my own fault. If I wasn't so weak he would love me. If I wasn't so nice he wouldn't want me dead.

It's all my fault. I can only blame me. Who would want a daughter like me. He has every right to hate me and it's all my fault.

I want him to love me. Love me like my uncle loved nii-san. But I can't just stop being nice. It's not right. I just can't.

I'll get stronger. If I can't stop being nice than I'll be stronger. Otou-sama will have to love me because jii-san said he loves strength.

He'll have to love me then, he'll have to.

* * *

As the six year old sneaked off to the back yard the older of the two men continued talking, "This doesn't mean Hinata couldn't become a good, maybe even a great, ninja. It just means she will never be the kind of ninja Hiashi wants and no matter how hard she tries or how much stronger she gets, it won't matter. She will never be his type of strong; in his mind she will always be weak."

"Hokage-sama, are you saying we need to tell her this?" he had purposefully not said anything about her father to her, or at least nothing too outrageously negative. Saying something like that could seriously set him back a few years. It would be like taking everything she had ever know and ripping it out from under her, something like that out of the blue? He'd be lucky if she still knew what the word family meant.

"No, not yet. Not until your positive that she needs to hear it," the Hokage wasn't a master of the mind, but even he wasn't ignorant enough to think that something like this wouldn't effect her.

"Is that everything Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, I think we can call Hinata back in now."

Hizuren stayed at their house for three hours. They talked and played and laughed; and neither of the men were the wiser towards what Hinata knew.

* * *

**Four Hours Later**

Anko was just coming back from an extended mission when the Hokage had called her to his office. That old man just couldn't stop giving her missions could he? Not that she could blame him, she _was _the best assassin in the village after all.

She ignored the Anbu that guarded the entrance to the Hokage tower. They may put up the pretense of civility but she wasn't as stupid as to asume they were genuinly kind. She knew what they said about her and as long as she was around to prove them wrong, she could care less. Anko contemplated flicking off the secretary that openly glared at her as she walked into the Hokage's office but thought better of it; it would take too much energy at the moment.

When Anko stepped into the, however, the Hokage wasn't in his chair; a small look around the room told her that he wasn't there at all. _The nerve of that old geezer, calling me here and not even showing up! I'm tired dammit, all I want to do is sleep..._For all Anko grumbled though she didn't make any move to leave. In fact, she chose instead to roughly lean against the side of his desk. Consequently causing a manila folder to fall to the ground, its paper scattering slightly.

She grabbed at the folder and quickly stuffed the papers back inside then moved to replace it on the desk before she stopped. Anko smiled greedily and did a quick sweep of the room before opening it up. She scanned a few papers for the main information then looked up with a confused face only to look back down at the pages again re-reading each slowly and deliberately.

"Having fun Anko?" The Hokage said as he walked in the door and around Anko's stock still form to sit comfortably in his chair. This was going to be a long night. Again. Great.

"What. The. Hell. What do you mean Ibiki has a kid! Why does that bastard get to have a kid? Why, of all people, would you choose him to take care of the kid, hmmmm? Don't you think _I _wanna take care of kid? Why don't I get a little kid too?" after the initial outburst Anko had settled for crossing her arms over her chest and glaring accusatively at the old man in front of her. She had apparently forgotten that she wasn't supposed to know this information in the first place. If she did happened to remember this information somewhere inside her rant, she convieniently decided to ignore it until her questions were thoroughly answered.

"Anko, do you know who the child even is?" Hizuren asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Ummmm, give me a second I haven't got that far yet," Anko then looked back at the packet of papers in her hand while the Hokage sweat-dropped. While Anko was a great and loyal kunoichi she still had the mentality of a ten year old at times, albeit a very perverted one, but a ten year old all the same. "Oh my effin' Kami...you did not trick that Hyuuga teme into giving away his first born daughter. Ohhh this is too good," Akno had started out chuckling, but now she was close to tears, the packet of papers was long ago dropped at her feet.

Hizuren chuckled slightly at her antics, "Yes I suppose I did, but I did not do it simply because he is, in your words not mine, a teme; there were more important factors contributing to my decision. After the attempted kidnapping Hinata Hyuuga was given a phsycological evaluation and it painfully obvious that she has developed severe mental issues that could very well kill her if she follows the path she wants to."

Anko's laughter was dulling, quickly, "What do you mean Hokage-sama? Is this from the kidnapping?" She had essentially gone from a highly amused child to the loyal special jonin that she was. Hizuren contemplated the possibiliy of her being bipolar before continuing.

"No, they have nothing to do with the attempted kidnapping," Anko made a small sigh of relief, "sadly they have everthing to do with her father."

Anko's head snapped up, her posture straightened, her teeth were set on edge. She never liked the dirty teme in the first place, he didn't want to let her be a ninja when she was brought here, in fact he wanted to torture her for information about Orochimaru then kill her. If it wasn't for the Hokage that she now served, she mentally shook herself, she didn't like thinking of what could have happened to her, " What do you mean Hokage-sama," she was talking in a quiet voice that spoke of horrors to come for those on her bad side, at the moment she could only just barely see through her haze of dark thoughts against Hiashi to talk to her Hokage.

Hizuren sighed again, he had to tred carefully right now, if he said anything that could possibly upset her too much he could very well have over a hundered deadly snakes at the Hyuuga mansion; entirely too willing to do their mistress' bidding. For all the awful stories about snakes they were more loyal than some people if you earned their trust and respect; something, thankfully, that Orochimaru had yet to accomplish, "Anko, you know as well as I do how...compassionate Hiashi is and if it were up to me Hinata would have been taken out of his care a long time ago. Sadly, large clans like the Hyuuga and Uchiha are exempt from certain rules and immune to certain powers the Hokage has over the inhabitants of Konohagakure. The ability to interfere in familial matters is one of them and until the attempted kidnapping there was no way I could help," He took an experimental at Anko to see how she was taking it. She, at the moment, was doing nothing more than clenching and unclenching her hands; showing that she understood, but in no way, shape, or form approved of it.

"Please continue Hokage-sama. I would like to know what exactly Hiashi-teme did to Hinata-san," Hizuren nodded to the woman and her barely contained anger. Right now it was better to humor her considering how much she already knew.

"Hiashi's way of raising children is harsh. There are no sentimental phrases over breakfast, no 'how was your day' at dinner, he shows them a total of four emotions on a regular basis: disappointment, indifference, contempt and towards Hinata, anger. Most Hyuuga children grow up this way and you see the results by looking at the clan members. They grow up under the pressure to be perfect fighters which causes them to rarely show emotions towards anyone; effectively becoming as close to a machine as humanly possible. Hinata, the poor girl, happens to fall into the second outcome of this upbringing, one that is almost never seen in the clan. The insane amount of pressure to be perfect and cold clashes with her natural personality, just like most others, but in these cases the child refuses to let go of their traits. Whether or not this is a conscious action I do not know; but with a constant war inside her head I can say with confidence that, without any help, before the age of twelve Hinata will have either killed herself or gone insane."

"That effing ass hole! I swear to Kami that man is going to Hell for this. You know what? Why don't I go over there and help him," Anko said darkly. She felt a type of kinship with this girl, a girl that she had never even met before. She understood the feeling of being pressured by someone you idolize. Of wanting to do anything and everything to make them proud of you. She also knew from experience that relationships like those always ended badly for the one who was trying to please.

"Anko, you know very well you can't do that," Hizuren knew she wasn't cocky or stupid enough to take on an entire clan, but that didn't mean she wasn't pissed off; or willing to try.

"Well then Hokage-sama, you know very well what I want instead," Yes, he did know. And what was worse was that she knew that he knew, and she happened to be very stubborn. "I need to Hokage-sama."

"Ibiki wouldn't like it and I don't know if adding another person to this mission is best for Hinata."

"Please Hokage-sama," She wasn't even going to take the free jab at Ibiki, " I want to help this girl. I don't care if I won't get to go on missions for a few years, I need to try and help her! I don't care if Ibiki doesn't want me there, just please, if I can't set her dad straight than let me help help Hinata, let me show him what an ass he is. I'll find a way to help her whether you let me or not so you might as well make it legal." There was that look in her eye that said she wasn't joking. No matter what he said she was going to find a way to help Hinata. And 7 to 10 it wouldn't be legal in at least three countries.

"Fine Anko," he sighed. This job was getting harder every year, " Ibiki won't like it but fine. I'm warning you though when he tries to flay me alive I'm blaming you," he laughed trying to lighted the snake-nin's mood. It worked only a little as he saw her give him a small smile.

"Thank you Hokage-sama, you have no idea how much this means to me," She bowed and sunshined out of the office.

Hizuren leaned back into his chair and smiled that mischievous smile of his, the one that said he knew something you didn't. And he did. After all did you really think he just left that folder out for no apparent reason. He laughed to himself, Ibiki may not like it but he was getting a new mission partner tomarrow.

* * *

If Ibiki had known that she would be sitting on his when he woke up he wouldn't have bothered to get out of bed.

"_Hellooo_ Ibiki-kun," Anko's voice was dipped in sugar as she smiled cheesily at the slightly older, definetly angrier, man in front of her. "You know, I think you should walk around without a shirt more often Ibiki-kun. It's kinda sexy." Ibiki's eye twitched, Anko smirked.

Yes, there was Ibiki dressed only in navy blue pajama bottoms, eyes bleary from just haveing been woken up a few minutes ago. Coincidencely, the same noise that woke him up just happened to be sitting on his couch with the Hokage, oh joy.

Ibiki slowley turned around to walk into his kitchen mumbling about stupid crazy-ass women sitting on _his_ couch. If anything could make the world okay right now, coffee could. The Hokage made his way off the couch to follow him, telling Anko to 'stay put' while they talked.

Still mumbling Ibiki was vaugley aware of the Hokage in his kitchen, Hizuren was willing to bet he was still a tad miffed at the fact that there was a mad woman in his house.

"Ibiki?" he turned to face Hizuren with a black mug in his hands, "I need you to stay calm when I tell you this alright?" he was answered with a tenative nod, "Good, well, I have decided, after a good few months of deliberation mind you, that you could use a partner for this mission. A female partner, Anko to be specific."

To Ibiki's merit he did not complety blow up, the increasing amount of twitching his eye was doing probably wasn't good; but he had yet to explode. Once calm enough to continue Ibiki looked Sarutobi, "Hokage-sama, when and why exactly, did you decide to give me a partner for this mission? I can assure you that Hinata and I are doing just fine on our own Hokage-sama," Ibiki was a loyal ninja to the very end, but that didn't stop him from being angry at the Hokage's dissision.

"Ibiki, Anko and I talked about this very thoroughly before I made my decision. I know that you are doing fine on your own, but you have to look at the situation in a ways that it could help Hinata," Ibiki's stern look had not wavered, but he nodded to the Hokage as an invitation to continue, "You do understand that both you and I are the only adults in Hinata's life at the moment, and we will continue to be two of the very few adults Hinata will probably come in contact with while she is recovering."

"Hokage-sama, I am sorry for interrupting you but what does this have to do with me getting a partner?" Ibiki knew Hinata had not been in contact with many other people in the year he has had her, but she seemed to be progressing rather nicely, if not even a tad bit faster than he had originaly predicted.

"You and I are both males, albeit there is an age difference, but we are both men none the less. At some point in time Ibiki Hinata is going to need female guidance that neither of us can provide...that is ,of course, unless you would like to play mother?"

"No thank you Hokage-sama," There goes that twitch again. For someone as proficient as Ibiki in the line of interrogation he really let the Hokage get on his nerves. He sighed, "Yes Hokage-sama I understand _that_ part, but why did you have to pick **her**? Couldn't you have chosen someone, oh I don't know, a little less crazy? Someone with more on their mind than dango?"

"Ibiki whether you like it or not Anko is your new mission partner so you will have to get used to her. Very regretfuly though I have no more time to argue about this with you," he sounded anything but regretful, "You will have to make it work." Oh no, _of course_ the Hokage wasn't senile- what on _Earth_ gave you that idea?

Ibiki took a sip out of the mug in his hand and griminced. Great, now his damn coffee was cold too.

He sighed as Anko walked into the kitchen.

"Come on Ibiki-kun, having me as a partner isn't _that_ bad. I mean, you could have gotten stuck with Ebisu or some other freaky closet pervert; at least I'm open about it,"

It had officially been 1 hour 42 minutes and 12.8 seconds since the Hokage had left Ibiki in the same house as Anko. Given the fact that is was still seven in the morning Hinata was not yet up Ibiki was stuck with no one to distract the other jounin. _'Please wake up soon Hinata, i don't think I can take much more of this woman's mindless blathering'_

"Are you listening to anything I'm saying Ibiki-kun! What if I said somehting highly important and you just missed it!" She crossed her arms and turned in her chair to look at Ibiki.

"The chances of you saying anything of high importance are slim at best," He had no paitents for someone as obnoxious as Anko was being. He had to think about how he was going to get this loud-mouth, foul tempered, dragon of a jounin to get along with the still relativly shy, sweet six year old that was currently sleeping; like he should be doing. Ibiki didn't like Anko, that was no secret. But he didn't like her for very superficial reasons; such as her obsession with dango, her overly loud voice, her willingness to tell everyone and their brother what she thought. Unlike other ninjas of Konohagaku he didn't care what she was or who she was with before she came here; she was here now and as far as he was concered she was a loyal ninja. One of the only good traits he could think of at the moment.

"Why you dirty no good ass kissing bastard!" Anko was out of her chair with her finger in Ibiki's face, "I say pleanty of important things and for you freaking information I asked you what kind of training _you _thought it was best for me to give Hina-chan! Your lucky I even asked you for your opinion! You-"

"Ummm, Hi, I'm Hinata w-who are you?" Sure enough Hinata was at the kitchen door in pink fuzzy slippers and a cinderella nightgown.

Anko turned around and gave one of her cheesy smiles, "Hiya sweetie! My names Anko Mitarishi, but you can just call me Anko. I'm gonna be helping Ibiki-kun over here teach you mkay?"

_'Crazy, bi-polar bit-' _

"Oh, umm, alright. Ibiki-sensei what's for breakfast?" Hinata cocked her head in Ibiki's direction. Well crap, he forgot about breakfast; maybe he could sneak out real quick to get groceries or something. But that would involve leaving Hinata in Anko's care for around a half-an-hour possibly a little longer. He may not love the house but that didn't mean he wanted it in ruins.

"Breakfast is right over here Hinata-chan; the Hokage and I picked it up on our way over," Sure enough Anko was carrying an overly large paper bag that a picture of numerous sweets on the front, "See we got donuts and sandwiches and cinnimon rolls and dango. All the best sweet things around!"

Hinata and Anko were all talk and giggels and smiles over breakfast, _'Maybe it won't be so hard to have them get along afterall' _No Ibiki wouldn't be having any problems with Anko and Hinata; and the best part was, Hinata hadn't stuttered once since she and Anko started talking.

Hizuren sighed contently as he looked back from his crystal ball, now if only he could get Ibiki to calm down a little around Anko; then they might be able to go in public without causing some kind of disaster.

* * *

It was now 12:38pm and Anko had to be the only person on the street who was still awake, "Stupid Ibiki. Doesn't he know that your not supposed to make ladies sleep on couches? No of course not, only gentlemen know that and he's not a gentleman," Anko was still tossing and turning on the pull out bed in the living room when she heard it again. _Thump. Thump. Thump. Crash! _

"Does that idiot keep drums in his basement or somehting? Kami he has to sleep with earplugs; I don't know how little Hina-chan isn't up yet," Anko groggily stood and arched backwards in her overly large sleeping shirt. She wasn't gonna sleep anytime soon so she might as well shut-up whatever was having a party in the basement.

As Anko walked down the stairs she mumbled slightly about not knowing where anything was. Ibiki had only givin her a very brief tour of the house; therefore she only knew that this was supposed to be a training area for when the weather was bad. She had no clue where the light switches/flashlights/candels were and she doubted Ibiki would like her to ask him at the moment.

Anko had reached the bottom of the steps and was about to let out a few curses at whatever was down here; until she what was making the noise. _Thump. Thump. Thump. Crash! _Hinata was standing there in what looked like a very old training outfit from her Hyuuga days. She was in her fighting stance punding away at the punching bag until she lost her balance and fell to the ground, pushing herself up again only to repeat what had just happened.

"What... Hinata-chan...Hinata-chan what are you doing? Stop that! You're gonna hurt yourself!" Anko yelled out.

Hinata's head snapped around in mind palm thrust sending her sprawling outwards. Anko jogged over to the girl. "Jeeze Hinata-chan what do you think you were doing? You could get hurt from that, what if you hit your head when you fell huh? Let me see your hands Hinata-chan," Anko was sitting on her heels beside Hinata, but Hinata refused to pull her hands out from behind her back, "Hinata I am going to give five seconds to take those hands out or else I'm bringing your jii-san down here and we'll see what he has to say about your little midnight training escapade," Hinata bit her lip before slowly giving her hands to Anko, "Hinata...Hinata is that blood?" The small hands that were a little more than half the size of Anko's own were covered in scraps and chaf marks; no doubt she had been at this for a very long time.

"I-it's not t-that bad Anko-san, r-really I-i'm fine," Hinata was trying to pull her hands back, but Anko had them in a firm yet strangely gentle grasp. "A-Anko-san, umm,"

"Hinata why, all I want to know is why you thought you had to do this and then you can go back to bed, alright," Anko was starring straight into Hinata's eyes; and despite the fact that her hair was down and she was in nothing but a sleep shirt the gaze was still peircing, still all-knowing, still demanding answers form the child sitting on the floor.

" I-I-I just want him to love me," she choaked out, "H-he hates me Anko-san! Jii-san was talking to Ibiki-sensei and I heard them, he hates me. _He _hates _me_," she was sobbing now. Anko moved to sit beside Hinata against the wall, rubbing her back in a soothing manner.

"Are we talking about your father Hinata-chan?" She nodded. Anko sighed, "You really love him don't you Hinata?" She nodded again. Anko gave a sad, almost bitter, smile and looked down at her knees that she brought up to her chest, "He used to give you those smiles too, huh? Those little ones that you'd never see him give anyone else but you. The encouraging ones when were doing good at something. The ones that made you feel like you were his favorite person in the world. Then one day, they just...disappeared. He just stop giving them to you. He stopped makeing you feel like family and more like you were someone off the streets. You started to do everything you could to get them back, but nothing worked," Hinata looked up at Anko in awe. How did she know? How did _she _know about the smiles? How did she know what was going on?

"How..." Hinata tried voiceing her thoughts, but the words fell through not makeing a sound as they went from her mouth and dropped to the floor.

Anko knew what she meant though, and she chuckled a little, "There was once someone who was very similar to your dad Hinata, and for a while he and I were very close. I think that that's all you need to know about him for now," Anko turned her eyes back to Hinata, "I need you to understand something Hinata, I know you may not like what I'm about to tell you but you need to know; men like your father are incapable of actualy loving someone. No matter what you do he is never going to give you those smiles again and I need you to promise me to stop trying to find them again. They're gone, okay Hinata? You need to trust me when I say this because I'm not just going to sit here while you waste your life, and health by the looks of it, over someone who has made up their mind," Hinata's eyes were watering but she knew what Anko was telling her was true. She knew that her realarionship with her father was never going to be ideal, but she couldn't help thinking that if she tried hard enough it might be just a little better than what it was. Even if it was just a little bit, to Hinata, it would mean the world.

"Hinata-chan I'm not going to make you stop trying to make it better with him, I know that you can't do that right now; not while there's still 'hope'. But I want you to think about it alright? Just remember what I'm telling you right now and we take on the rest of this mess later. Preferably after your hands are all fixed up," Anko smiled at her. It wasn't sad, but it wasn't cheesy either. It was nice, just nice.

"Anko-san-"

"Sensei," Hinata looked up at Anko as she stood, "If your so impaitient to train in taijutsu than I might as well teach you it right?" Now the smile was cheesy, a cheesy Anko smile. Hinata decided she liked those smiles as she gave a small one of her own back.

"Anko-sensei?" Hinata asked as they started to walk up the stairs, "Are we going to tell Ibiki-sensei about this?"

"Ummmmm, hehehe, how about this be our little secret for now okay? We'll tell him later, maybe in a few years or something when we get that stick out of his butt," Anko set Hinata on the kitchen counter and went to look for the first aid kit.

"Ibiki-sensei has a stick up his butt! But,but-"

"No, NO! Not that way Hinata-chan, what I mean is, well ,it's...you'll get it when your older, for now let's just not tell Ibiki-kun that little bit either," Hinata giggled at Anko's antics than yawned, it was now 3:00 in the morning and Kami knew how long Hinata had been beating on the punching bag. Anko had just finished putting cream on Hinata's hands, "Come on Hinata-chan, you've had a long night I think it's time for bed," Anko picked Hinata up and carried her to her room.

"Anko-sensei are you going to sleep with me tonight? Aunt Miki used to sleep with Neji-nii-san," Hinata mumbled tiredly into Anko's shoulder. Anko set Hinata down on the bed.

"Sure squirt, why not; anything better than that stupid old pull out couch. Can you believe Ibiki-kun made me sleep on that?" Anko might as well have been talking to the dead; Hinata had fallen asleep and wouldn't wake up until 11:00 in the afternoon the next morning.

* * *

Review please!


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry it took so long to update, I really don't have a good reason so I'm just sorry.

Thank you to all my wondedrful reviews: Cib Way K. Tomohisa Sz, Hinata-fan2, HyuugaAE, Aki666, sKyLaR KnIgHt, InARealPickle, complicityangel, fierynightangel, hinatasgaurdian, LovinUrStory, ladysesshy18, Ray Venn Hakubi, NamirPyralis, Kira Acumichi, XxXElementalWarriorXxX, CuteLikeMomiji, Hellcleaner, GoddessSumizofVenus, KarateGirl654, Momoshiro, TL, wisdom-jewel, Echo Uchiha, xAngel-of-Hellx, RoyalDragoon, Sepsis, winterkaguya, Insanity-Red, and summerkiss.

So many Reviews! I feel so loved :D

shikahina-11 sasuhina-8 gaahina-8 shinohina-3 I think I'm going to nix shinohina if it stays at three. I know some people like it but it is not as popular as the other three are. Another thing, someone made a good point about shikahina; they said that he needs someone bossy to get him to do things and stuff like that. I think it could be a valid point and I wanted to know what everyone else thought of it.

Thank you again to my beta SimmeringTofu :)

Disclaimer: don't own Naruto

* * *

_Paitent: Hinata Hyuuga_

_Age: 7_

_Progress Report: Hinata Hyuuga seems to be progressing quicker than expected, she is able to adapt well to her environment and her intelligence is above average. For a few hours a day Hyuuga-san and I have small training sessions mostly focusing on interrogation techniques. So far she has maintained a steady rate of progress and will most likely continue to do so._

_There is an abnormality with Hyuuga-san's chakra system. Her chakra reserves are growing at an exponential rate and are quickly becoming too large for someone of her age. If it continues to grow at the present rate it will hinder her ability to control her chakra; potentially causing difficulty to perform Jyuuken. While Anko Mitarishi is teaching her new fighting styles, at some point she will need to learn her blood limits taijutsu. I reccomend some form of restraints for her growing chakra reserves. This is most likely a side affect of her sudden mental and physical growth, therefor nothing to be too concerned about._

_Hyuuga-san's speech impediment is now almost non-existent and her social skills are improving. She initiates conversation between Mitarishi, myself and even our civilian neighbors. I feel however, contact with children her age is crucial to push the continuation of her progress. I request permission to leave civilian section AC27 in order ti visit a park two blocks away._

_-Ibiki Morino_

A weathered hand set the paper down, placed it back into a manila folder, and picked up the next one.

_Paitent: Hinata Hyuuga_

_Age: 7_

_Progress Report: _

_Hinata has improved dramatically since I was assigned to this mission. Her personality has become close to that of a normal child, Ibiki and I hope to continue this growth. I am currently teaching her different styles of taijutsu. Due to her age it is unkown what style she is most suited to, but by teaching her numerous styles she has multiple options for the future. At the moment we are still on the basics but I feel her progress is steady enough for a seven year old. _

_I am concerned with her chakra reserves. When she meditates, or is calm, they seem to grow at an abnormal rate. Her reserves seem to take in too much physical and spiritual energy for a young girl of her age. If there is no immediate solution towards this problem, I suggest taking her to a hospital for an evaluation. For safety precautions._

_Her social skill are progressing but in order for them to continue Ibiki and I both agree that it is necessary for her to interact with children her age. Ibiki has completed the request forms._

_-Anko Mitarishi_

Hizuren sighed and leaned back into his chair, the issue of her chakra reserves could prove to be a problem. While Ibiki didn't think it was too serious, Anko was obviously worried. _'I'll have to make an appointment with a medic for them; while I'm at it I might as well have them give Hinata her shots too.' _

Hizuren could truthfully say that he thought Anko was over-reacting, but to be fair he would make an appointment; after all, there was never any harm in humoring Anko.

* * *

"Anko-sensei! C-can we go get cinnamon rolls for lunch?" A little girl with long blue pig-tails pushed herself up by the counter to see what her sensei was doing.

Anko laughed at the sight, "We just had them this morning Hinata-chan, I don't think so missy." As for what she was doing- Anko was by the kitchen sink in olive pants, a white half-shirt, and a pink apron...with flowers.

"Ibiki-sensei?"

"No," he didn't even bother looking up from his newspaper this time.

Hinata plopped down into her chair and crossed her arms. Yes, she was certainly more of a child now. Ibiki and Anko would go as far to say she was more immature than the average seven year old. Something niether of them were happy about.

"But why?" Hinata's lips turned down in a pout.

"I already told you why," Anko said

"But why can't I have them again?"

"Because I said so,"

"But that's not a reason Anko-sensei!"

"It is in this house brat," for such a small woman Anko could certainly hold her own against a pouty child. Not as easy as it sounds.

"I'd stop arguing Hinata, or you aren't going to the special place I was going to take you today."

Hinata's ears perked up at the word "special". For such an anti-social man Ibiki certainly knew how to defuse a kid's temper. Again, not as easy as it sounds.

"What place is this, Ibiki-sensei? Is it fun? Am I going to like it?" a child's emotions were like switchs; they changed in the blink of an eye, it was almost scary.

"You'll just have to wait and see, finish you lunch and we'll head over."

"Done!"

Ibiki pulled his newpaper down. A beaming Hinata sat in front of a clean white plate. _'She inhaled it'_

Anko decided to buy him some time to finish his own lunch, "Good job maggot, now let's see if you can clean your room that fast,"

Hinata opened her mouth to say something back, but Anko stood in front of her, "The clock's ticking,"

Hinata had been living with Anko for a full year now, she knew what that look meant. Once Hinata was out of the room Anko turned back to Ibiki, "You sooo owe me one Ibiki-kun,"

"One what exactly?"

"Hmmmm, how about one date?" Anko smiled she knew the answer but the argument was just too much fun.

"Troublesome, if you don't stop with your antics I might just turn into Shikaku."

"Gasp! Was that just humor I heard? The world is ending! It's the apocolypse!" Anko shouted before erupting into laughter.

"Hmph,"

"Oh lighten up Ibiki-kun, you act like a forty year old man instead of a twenty-five year old. God you'll be fifty by the time you hit thirty!"

"If your done I think we have an impatient seven year old waiting for us at the door,"

"What-" Anko spun around on her heels and sure enough Hinata was tapping her foot next to the, robins egg blue, front door. "Hey! Now how come you can't do your chores that fast every day squirt?"

"Anko-sensei," she whined, "I don't get to _go_ somewhere everyday."

"Alright, I'm done come on Hinata," Ibiki moved his plate forward and his chair back.

"Wait just a second there, you haven't finished your lunch." Despite Anko's voice Ibiki kept moving in the direction of the door.

"There's a reason for that."

"Hey! You bastard I-"

"Bye Anko-sensei!" the door slamed shut.

"Damn ungrateful bastard, he can make his own damn lunch from now on, you know what? Breakfast and dinner too, stupid bastard see how you like that..." Anko fumed and mumbled to herself for a little before deciding that Ibiki could clean up the kitchen.

"I'm going to go get dango, hmph."

* * *

"So Ibiki-sensei where are you taking me?" Hinata asked, she was hopping on one foot with her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, "Is it a fun place? Will I like it?"

"You'll find out when you get there, I don't know, and I hope so," Ibiki nodded to the people he passed on the way. In his new civilian clothes he was much less of an eye sore; infact, thanks to Hinata, the three knew almost all of there nieghbors. Even if the nieghbors didn't particularly enjoy their company. A memory of Anko's idea of a dinner party ran through his mind before he pushed it out. Now that was a disaster.

"Hi Kimota-san! Hatanoma-san!" Hinata waved enthusiasticly to the elderly couple garening. Ibiki smirked. If it wasn't for the pearl colored eyes Hinata wouldn't be recognizable. Her hair was a bright blue and her skin had a healthy glow from spending so much time outside with Anko. Hinata had grown considerably taller (which wasn't surprising considering her genetics), and her face had a smile on at all times. Maybe spending time with them had done her some good after all.

After about ten minutes of walking Hinata turned her head up to Ibiki, "Are we there yet?"

"Twenty minutes," he said

"Okay,"

Five minutes later.

"What about now?"

"Fifteen minutes,"

"Oh,"

A little bit later.

"Now?"

"Fifteen minutes,"

"Awwww," Hinata whined, "Ibiki-sensei, you said that fifteen minutes ago."

"Hinata, if you say one more thing, I will take you back to the house." Ibiki looked down at the little girl beside him. She had her mouth open slightly, poised to retaliate, before she jutted her bottom lip out and started walking again.

_Ibiki-sensei can be scary sometimes. I wonder where we're going? Sensei won't tell me, I don't really like surprises..._

The pouting didn't last too long as Hinata quickly got herself off topic. Suddenly Hinata looked up, just in time to run into Ibiki's knees.

"Oof," she said as she fell backwards, "Ibiki-sensei!" Hinata giggled a little as she got up.

"Why did we stop?"

"Well I just thought you'd like to know that we're here."

"Really? Yes!" Hinata scrambled up and looked past Ibiki's legs. In front of her was a huge grassy area with four sets of swings, a big sandbox, and a brand new set of red monkey bars. The ones that had the slide at the end.

"A park," Hinata grinned up at Ibiki, who gave a small smile back as he glanced at the forested area to his left, "thanks Ibiki-sensei, I'm gonna have so much fun! Are you going to stay here and play with me?" Hinata asked.

"I don't think so Hinata, I have some work to do today,"

"Oh well...what do I do?" When Hinata had lived with the Hyuuga she was an heiress and heiress' didn't go places like parks; they stayed home and studied and trained like good Hyuuga children. She learned that lesson the hard way; only a month before the kidnapping she had outsmarted the nanny who was watching her that day. She had made it all the way to the park where she passed the day before and went down her first slide with pride. She loved how it was still a bit early and the dew had made her go even faster. She loved every minute of her first visit until her uncle Hizashi and four other branch members came to drag her back home. The scolding that her father gave her lasted for three hours and left her with twice as many brusies.

Strangely enough though, the memory didn't surfuce and Hinata only looked at the playground in genuine happiness; not at all bothered by the tugging in the back of her mind.

Ibiki thought a little bit, Go and talk to all the other kids Hinata, you can play games with them and things like that, just don't run off. Understand?"

"Yes sensei," Hinata said smiling.

"Good," He gave her a small smile, if anyone else had seen they would have told you that there was a man scowling a child; but Hinata knew that the little twitch of Ibiki's mouth was infact a smile. That itself made her give him a smile thrice as large.

When Ibiki left the first thing Hinata did was run to the slide.

* * *

Ibiki's Shunshin no jutsu had only taken him a twenty some feet to his left; into the forested area next to the park. "Pigeon-san, not that i'm not just delighted to see you, but why are you here?"

A man's laugh came from seemingly nowhere until a figure jumped out of the tree. He was unmistakably ANBU; expressionless white mask with red marking and standard black uniforms. A uniform that Ibiki hoped would be his soon.

"Warm and soft as ever Ibiki-san," the man's voice wasn't particularly loud nor was he of large stature, but his voice held wieght that wasn't easy, or wise, to ignore. "Guess taking care of a kid for a few years didn't do much for your personlatity huh?"

"Hn," Ibiki had found one word answers were best when dealing with this particular brand of loudmouth.

The anbu sighed, "And I thought we were getting somewhere with the sarcasam in that first sentence. Oh well, keep working on it eh Ibiki-san?"

"Pigeon-san,"

"Hm? Oh yes, your probably wondering why I was waiting for you in the woods beside a park aren't you? Well there's a very simple reason for that and I'm surprised you didn't guess it. I am the messenger after all," you didn't have to see him to know that he was smiling. Ibiki simply glared, "You my dear friend have a mission,"

"I'm already on a mission," Ibiki said shortly

Pigeon laughed, "I'm aware of your little babysitting D-rank, but if you want to know _why_ Hokage-sama assigned you a mission than take that up with him. I'm only the messanger. On that same note report to quartrant T sub 2 section k21 in 0200 hours" with that he disapeared in a swirl of leaves.

Ibiki made a noise of annoyance before disappearing in a similar manner. He and the Hokage obviously had some things to discuss.

* * *

Hinata was enjoying herself. Hinata was _enjoying _herself around people that weren't 20 years older than her. It was a new concept that was only slightly puzzeling as she was having far to much fun to think about it at all.

"Sasami-chan, over here!" yelled a girl.

"Don't let Hinata-chan get it!" yelled another.

The girl called Sasami threw it high, _'There's no way that Hinata-chan can catch this one!' _

As it was falling back down though Hinata jumed and caught it neatly in her hands. Her new friends weren't as fast as she was, and they couldn't jump as high or throw as hard as she could either, but that was okay because they were nice. Nice and happy and her age too!

"How did you even jump that high Hinata-chan? Sasami threw that so high up!" Misaki said.

"Well, u-um, it's not that special. Really guys!" Hinata wasn't used to all the attention therefore she could feel the warmth of her face as it turned from pink to red.

"Well there goes another game, is there anything your not good at Hinata-chan? It's like you're some ninja," Hamiki scrunched up her face.

"W-well I will be! Someday I mean, I'm not one now, but I will..." Hinata's voice peetered off as her new friends quieted down, "What? Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine, but we have to go," Hamiki said before turning around, "Come on guys."

Sasami was the second to go, she looked behind at Hinata as she followed her sister though. Only Misaki said good-bye before running to catch up.

"I can't believe we played hide'n'seek with a ninja!" Hamiki didn't know that Hinata could still hear them all very clearly.

"Well she really didn't seem like a ninja nee-chan," Misaki said.

"It doesn't matter what she seemed like stupid, you know what Kaa-san says about ninjas,"

"Misaki's right though. She didn't try and kill us or anything, she didn't even pull out a weapon,"

"Not you too Sasami! Kaa-san also says that they're sneaking and like hurting others. Just because she didn't hurt us then doesn't mean she won't. She's a ninja remember? She's a killer," Hamiki was absolute in this and she would stay absolute untill her sister agreed.

"Okay nee-chan, okay," Sasami said. Misaki only nodded and looked back once more to see a girl with bright blue hair and wet cheeks, a yellow ball forgotten at her feet.

* * *

"Yes Ibiki, please come in," He was starting to prefer paperwork over some of Ibiki's visits.

"I ran into Pigeon-san in the woods next to the park I dropped Hinata off at, I was told that you assigned me a mission Hokage-sama,"

"That's correct,"

"Hokage-sama, I'm already on a mission; Hinata Hyuuga is my mission,"

"This is also true Ibiki-san,"

Though Ibiki's face stayed neutral he was starting to tire of beating around the bush. It was the Hokage however, and therefore Ibiki trusted that Hizuren would tell him what he needed to know, when he needed to know it. That was the trust that every Hokage instilled in their ninja, "Hokage-sama, may I know what is going on? Is Hinata Hyuuga's mission...terminated?"

He hated to admit it, he detested it really, but he had become attached. He was only slightly sympathetic in his first few hours of meeting her. He had grown fond in the first year, he had learned to be more affectionate the second year, and in this last year he had become attached. He wasn't sure if he knew how to live as he was before Hinata. That Ibiki's life held no meaning, no purpose.

"No Ibiki, it's nothing like that. Your mission with Hinata will stay in-progress until you say differently. The reason I assigned you another misson is much less complicated though equaly disturbing really; we're running out of ninja."

"What?" Ibiki was relieved that it had nothing to do with his inital mission but a ninja shortage was dangerous, "How is that even possible? We have the biggest village with the largest population, as well as numerous promenant ninja families."

"I'm aware of this, but look at it in another way Ibiki; over half of our population is civillians. It's true that the ninja families will always be ninjas, and there are some non-clan families that follow the ninja tradition; but our civillians are starting to get adgitated."

"What do you mean by that Hokage-sama?"

"While I'm sure they know that the ninja here keep them safe, they have been restless since the war ended. That war killed many inoccent bystandards, who more often than not were civillians. Angry widows and bitter orphans have told their stories to their children and to their children's children; the amount of civillians becoming ninja has dropped over fifty percent in the last twenty years. They are starting to over-populate and therefore the ninja of this village are going on mission after mission to keep Konoha's funds at an appropriate level."

"You need Anko and I to come back to active duty." This was a statement, not a question.

"Correct." Hizuren answered anyway.

Yes, he really was starting to prefer paperwork.

* * *

Hinata had grabbed the ball from the ground and wiped her tears away. There wouldn't be any use in crying she had told herself but the tears didn't stop or slow as she walked in the oppisite direction of the three sisters.

"Hey!"

Hinata's eyes widened and she nearly dropped the ball as she turned to the new voice. What she was a blond girl with short hair, in an orange T-shirt walking in her direction.

"Why are you crying?" she said, her voice didn't get any softer even though they were closer now.

"My new friends left me and they said horrible things about ninjas and- and I'm just being a baby, I'm okay." Hinata didn't want to make this girl worry.

"Oh, those must have been the civillians," She said knowingly, "Don't pay any attention to them, they're all dumb as a box of rocks." her arms were crossed, "Well anyway, I'm Ino Yakamana and you must want to be a kunoichi if they left you so quick."

"I-I'm Hinata and yeah I do! How did you know that?"

"None of us really know why, but they don't like ninja. I meant they don't like us at ALL. They always stay over on the west side and whenever we come close they yell! The last time Kiba got dared to go over a younger kid even started to cry! All I know is that they're all a little wierd." Ino wasn't as loud as she was before, something told Hinata she had heard them say a few things as well.

"That's not all true Ino-chan."

"What do you mean?"

"W-well, I played lots of games with them for a little while. They're normal, but...they're really scared Ino-chan. They think that because we want to be ninjas that we're going to hurt them." Hinata didn't know why but she felt the need to stand up for the people who were first so nice to her. Even if they left her so fast that they forgot to take their ball.

"Well, I still don't think it gives them the right to act rude!" Ino had been momentarily stunded at the way Hinata had spoke, and what she had said, but she had quickly regained her voice.

"Maybe Ino-chan, but people act different when they're scared. They tend to do and say strange things without thinking about how they sound to others around them." Hinata was useing the voice that her jii-san used when talking to his ninjas, it demanded respect and held untold wisdom. Hinata didn't even know how she sounded to the blond girl sitting beside her.

Ino found herself nodding before she could stop, "Well, I guess that might be true, but either way I think you need a sign on you."

"A what?"

"A sign, like this one," Ino pointed to the pin in her hair that was the shape of the leaf symbol, "all the kids that want to be a ninja have something like this on them so everyone _knows _that we want to be ninja. You need one too."

"Well, I guess that's okay, but I don't think I have anything with the leaf symbol on it." Hinata said. Besides, she might have owned a shirt but she certainly wasn't going to wear that shirt for the rest of her life.

"That's okay Hinata-chan, we can just draw it somewhere see?" Ino held up a green marker, "It'll be great." she smiled.

"Okay," Hinata nodded, Ino's smile grew. She told Hinata to stand still as she started to draw on her cheek.

"There!" she said, "Perfect, I think that's the best one I've ever drawn. I- oof!"

Hinata yelped as a brown and blue something tackled Ino to the ground.

"Kiba get your stupid butt off of me!" Ino screiched so loudly Hinata covered her ears.

"Me get off you? Your on top on me! I'm coverd in cooties this is so gross!" 'Kiba' pushed himself off of Ino and ran to a tree a few feet away.

"That's right! You better run dog boy!" Ino yelled.

This was Hinata's first meeting with the oppisit sex her age and the only thing she had to say was, "What an odd boy,"

"Hinata-chan, I am sorry to say that they're all like that; even Shikamaru and his lazy-butt." Ino stuck her tongue out at Kiba and made a face.

Hinata's eyebrows furrowed, "Why did you do that?"

"Huh?" Ino turned back to Hinata.

"Why did you scrunch your face all up and stick your tongue out?" Hinata asked.

"Oh, well, when a boy does something really stupid like that or sticks his tongue out at you first then that's what you have to do." Ino explained patiently, she liked being able to help and was proud to do it too.

"Oh, I see." Hinata said and turned her head to where Kiba was standing and stuck out her tongue like Ino did.

"There!" she laughed, "That wasn't too hard was it?"

Hinata smiled at Ino, "So whose-"

"Ino!" Both girls turned to see a blond man next to an equally blond woman. Ino's face lit up.

"Kaa-san! Tou-san!" Ino yelled as she ran to the adults. Hinata stayed where she was though; she watched as the man picked her up into the air and spun her around. Ino laughed, as loudly as everything else she did, until she was set back on the ground.

"Hinata-chan come over here!" Ino waved, Hinata walked over curiously, "These are my parents." she said proudly as the mother just laughed.

"Hi sweetie, I'm Ino's mother. Hinata was it?"

"Yes ma'am." Hinata smiled at her. She was bright and happy; Hinata instantly liked her.

Ino's mother laughed, "It's nice to meet you Hinata, I hope our little Ino wasn't too much trouble."

"Kaa-san!"

"Ino's right," Inoichi smiled, "I'm sure this kunoichi in training handled our little princess just fine." he said as he noticed the green leaf symbol on her cheek. Hinata knew where he was looking and blushed at her new 'tattoo'.

"So Hinata-chan, is your mother coming to pick you up soon?" the woman asked it was starting to get a little late for children Hinata's age to be out and about.

"Oh, I don't have a mother." Hinata said simply.

The expression on the mother was of heartbreak, "I'm so sorry for your loss Hinata."

"My loss? But I didn't lose anything." Hinata said

"Hinata what I mean to say is-"

"Hinata! Scare the life out of me why don't ya? Didn't Ibiki tell you to stay in the park?"

"Ohayo Anko!" Hinata smiled, oblivious to the kunoichi's worry as Anko knelt down next to her.

Someone above them cleared their throats. Anko looked up, "Oh hello Inoichi-san, Kimiko-san," she stood up holding Hinata on her hip, "it's very nice to see you both again,"

"And you as well Anko-san," Kimiko said dryly.

Inoichi shot her a subtle look that she ignored, he sighed, "I'm happy to see that your well Anko-san, I hadn't seen you on the mission roster lately I was starting to think you had retired," He let out a small laugh.

Anko smiled back at him, "Me, retire at this age? Hardly, you know me better than that! I've got to make it to ANBU first," she said cheekily.

"Well it's good to know that you won't be retireing for a while then," Inoichi winced, but Anko held her smile as she turned to Kimiko, "If you wouldn't mind me asking though, what are you doing talking to this little Hyuuga child so freely?"

"Actualy Kimiko-chan, I do mind you asking. Well good-bye Inoichi-san, Ino-san," Anko nodded to both, "We've gotta get going,"

"Bye Ino-chan! I'll see you tomorrow!" Hinata yelled before she an Anko dissapeared.

"I don't believe I have ever met such a disrespectful, irratating woman in my entire life, don't you agree Inoichi? That poor little Hinata,"

"Just because Anko-san does not have a clan does not mean you should lower yourself as to treat her any differently than the other Konoha ninja," Inoichi's face was stoney.

"That's not why and you know that very well Inoichi,"

"Then your actions are lower than I thought," he turned away from his wife, "Come on Ino, lets see if you can beat me to the flower shop!"

As the two raced Kimiko glared in the direction Anko and Hinata had left in before following her family at a lady-like pace.

* * *

Anko now had Hinata on her back as she lept from tree to tree, "So did you have a good time Hinata-chan?"

"Uh-huh, can I go back tomorrow?"

"I think that's a great idea, Ibiki will be happy that you liked going to the park."

"Really?"

"You bet short-stuff." Anko smiled back at Hinata.

"Anko-sensei, I have a question."

"Ask away Hina, I will answer it to the very best of my ability. Which means you may have to ask Ibiki when we get back home,"

Hinata laughed, "I wanted to know what a Kaa-san and a Tou-san are."

Anko almost tripped on a branch. Hinata had read the dictionary three times in the past year, she had to have past the words mother and father in there at least once, "Well, a Kaa-san is a mother and a Tou-san is a father," hurmoring her was always a better option than critisizing her.

"I know that already, I wanted to know what they were though. Who are they?" Leave it to the eight year old to ask a philisophical question.

Anko had to think for a while before she opened her mouth again, "A Kaa-san is..your mother, she is the female figure in your life that tells you she loves you and makes you happy," she thought of what she remembered of when she was younger, "A Tou-san is obviously your father, he makes you happy too but dad's make you feel really safe and special and...nice. Toghether the two of them make parents and they help there child grow up and become a good strong young man or woman," Anko's eyes were furrowed slightly as if she was having difficulty explaining two words so commonly used throughout ones life.

"Oh," Hinata said, "does this mean that I can call you and Ibiki-sensei Kaa-san and Tou-san?"

This time Anko did trip and if it wasn't for the fact that she knew Konoha's forests by heart than she probably wouldn't have grabbed the branch in time. Hinata didn't make one noise of surprise, she knew she would be okay because she was with her sensei.

When Anko started moving again it was at a much slower pace and to Hinata's credit, for she was learning to get over being so impaitent, she did not say anything while she waited for Anko's answer.

"Hinata," Anko said softly, "I think that would be just fine. I'm glad that you trust us enough," Hinata smiled and Anko quickly wiped away her tears, crying had never done anyone any good and it certainly wouldn't start now.

"So Kaa-san, can I ask you a favor?"

Anko had no trouble reacting to her new name, "Of course, since when have you had to ask?" Anko laughed.

Hinata was too intent on her question to laugh back, "It's really important we do it now but I wanted to know if we could make a stop on our way home..."

* * *

It was almost seven thirty at night and Hinata was tenativly knocking on a door not far from the park she had played at a few hours ago.

A woman a few years older than Anko opened the door. She looked like those women Hinata saw in the paper, the ones in the cleaning ads. Neat dark hair, pretty and a floral apron around her waist.

It took a moment for the woman to realize that whoever had knocked on her door was much shorter than than she was, but she didn't expect to see a little blue haired girl with a yellow ball in her hands, "Oh! Hello sweetheart, are you lost?"

The lady had crouched down to Hinata's level, it looked like it should have been difficult with her large stomach but she did it with ease, "N-no ma'am is this where Sasami, Misaki, and Hamiki live?" The woman nodded, "Okay, my names is Hinata and w-we were playing today and when they left they forgot their ball, I was hopeing you could give it to them for me." Hinata held out the ball in front of her with her head bowed.

The woman laughed and Hinata looked up, "I keep telling those girls not to leave their things at the park! One of these days they aren't going to play with someone as sweet as you and they won't get their toys back. Of course I'll give it to them." the woman took the ball and stood up with a little more difficultly then with which she had gotten down.

"Um, ma'am? One more thing if you wouldn't mind," Hinata asked shyly.

"Of course," the woman smiled.

"Could you tell them that I said that e-even though I want to be a ninja I would never ever hurt them no matter what they think and t-that if they want to I would really really like to play with them the next time they came to the park, thank you! Good-bye!" Hinata bowed and then started quickly back to her house. That was scarier than she had thought it would be, but she hoped that the woman would tell her daughter's. She really did want to play catch with them the next time they were at the park.

Back at the house Kana stood with the door still open and the yellow ball still in her hands. The little ninja, she had to remind herself that that small girl had been a ninja, had bowed to her and told her that she would never hurt Sasami, Misaki, or Hamiki.

She closed the door and walked back into the dinning room in a trance, "Who was it Kaa-san?" Sasami asked.

"A little girl named Hinata," the three girls shared a look, "she came to return your ball, she said you left it at the park."

"Oh, I'm sorry Kaa-san I should have remembered that," Hamiki laughed lightly, "silly me."

"She also mentioned that she was a ninja." this made the childeren freeze.

"It's okay Kaa-san! Really, as soon as we found out we left, we promise!" Hamiki.

"Yeah we're okay Kaa-san, she hadn't hurt us yet." Sasami put her two sense in.

Kana only nodded, "Well, dinner's over it's time for bed." Hamiki and Sasami quickly put their plates in the sink and went to their rooms. Misaki was slower.

"Kaa-san?" Kana turned to see her youngest daughter still at the table, "She was really nice to us at the park. I don't think she would have hurt us, even if she was a ninja." her mother said nothing. "Do you believe me Kaa-san? Sasami-nee and Hamiki-nee didn't, but you do don't you?"

Kana walked back to the table, "Yes sweetheart, I do, I really do."

Misaki smiled, "Does this mean we can play with Hinata-chan tomorrow?"

_'I would never hurt them, no matter what they think...' _Kana nodded, "Yes I think that would be alright."

Misaki smiled bigger, "Well that's good, I was going to ask Hinata-chan to teach me how to jump so high. Goodnight Kaa-san!"

Kana watched Misaki go to her room before taking her plate back to the kitchen. Who would have ever thought that she would willingly let her babies play with a ninja after Nanagi died. Her throat burned as she held back tears, she supposed that no one could have seen that one coming.

* * *

End of chapter five! Hope it was good please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Hi! I know it's been a really long time but I have a really good excuse this time! I got a job, yes a job but I feel like I may get made fun of if I tell you sooo...ya only on request lol. The main reason it took so long though is because I wrote all of the big parts in such a short time, then I had to fill in everything in between and connect it all. It was sooo hard and i am never doing that again haha.  
Thank you always to my Beta : simmering tofu  
And thank you to all my reviewers : OnlyTheBest123, Aki666, LadyOfMsit92, ThE-faInTinG-faNGirl, charlotte, Faux Princess, winterkaguya, kibagaaralover18, Hikaru-e-Ikuto Call me Ciih, hup, fierynightangle, Echo Uchiha, Kira Acumichi, HinataMorningstar, Sepsis, sKyLaR KnIgHt, XxXElementalWarriorXxX, GoddessSumizoOfVenus, Hopewolf13, Nightraze, Dark Moon Maiden, Ayiti princesse, grey-shadow-horse, animeflunky, wisdom-jewel, .lover, fujingodofwind, Hunny's Little Bun-Bun, Msdgirl, Fay of the Ink And The Paper  
wooow, that was a bunch lol and I think I'm going to keep shikahina open, but shinohina is out because of not enough votes. And the new poll is (drum roll thank you)  
shikahina : 19  
sasuhina : 17  
gaahina : 10

review if you want your person to win!

* * *

"Oh drop the act already Ibiki, we both know you want to get in my pants." Anko teased. Ibiki was livid and the woman had not given up on her stupid little tricks.  
"Tou-san can't fit in your pants Kaa-san. Why would he want to be in them?"

Damn that eight year old curiosity.

"Anko says many stupid things like that Hinata, you have to learn not to listen to her," Ibiki explained. The Tou-san was still taking some getting used to, but since Anko had so readily agreed Ibiki would have been hard pressed to say no; especially after her explanation.

Flashback

_'Hinata, you already have a Tou-san remember?' he had told her gently as the topic of her father tended to make her upset and reclusive for days afterward. They had managed to avoid talking about him for four months now._

_Hinata's eyes furrowed and she took a minute to comprehend her teacher's words, "Oh," she said, " you mean Otou-sama. Well he's not a Tou-san, Ibiki-sensei," she smiled up at him while Anko watched then from the hallway._

_"And why is that?" he asked curiously. This was a new response and it was crucial that he knew her reasons behind it._

_"Well," Hinata began, "Ino-chan's Tou-san picked her up and spun her around and he laughed too! 'Otou-sama's don't do any of those things, but 'Tou-san's do. And you've picked me up before and you laugh sometimes… so that makes you my Tou-san!" Hinata beamed up at him._  
_In the face of such simplistic, child-like logic, Ibiki found himself nodding and saying, "Yes Hinata, I suppose it does.,"_

_In the background, Anko smiled victoriously as Hinata gave Ibiki a hug._

Flashback End

"Oh shut up Ibiki, you don't have to sugar coat everything, she'll have to learn about it sooner or later," Anko turned to Hinata, "You see Hinata, men and women show that they like each other in different ways than kids your age. So when I say that he want to get in someone's pants it really means that he wants to have s-"

"Why are you such an idiot!" Ibiki exclaimed. His hands were over Hinata's ears and had been since she started talking, "You simply can't explain sex to an eight year old while going to the hospital! I-..it's just stupid,"

"Well what if she sees a woman giving birth huh? How are you going to get around that one?"

"Genjustu," he said simply, as if using a genjutsu on an eight year old was perfectly normal in every family.

"Ha! And that's not stupid at all!" Anko stuck her tongue out childishly.

Ibiki sighed and took his hands off Hinata's ears, "Why must you act more childishly than Hinata ?"

Anko gasped melodramatically, "Ibiki-kun I'm hurt! How could you say something like that?"

Hinata laughed at her antics.

"You too Hina? What has the world come to?" She placed a hand on her head and stumbled back, "I think I feel faint,"

"I'm not picking you up if you do," Ibiki said.

"Hmph, fine then, be a fuddy-duddy, Hina thought it was funny,"

"She's eight," Ibiki sighed. He continued on to the hospital in front of Hinata and Anko and therefore was oblivious to the multiple faces that were being made behind his back.

Hinata had never been to a hospital before, whenever she had been hurt there was always a Hyuuga healer waiting. Even after training sessions where the damage might have been too severe for them too handle, no one went to the hospital. Ever.

Hinata remembered that she had once asked her Otou-sama why; the answer he had given her never made sense. It still didn't as the hospital looked clean enough to her. He had told her that hospitals were full of dirt and scum and nothing there was worth the notice of a Hyuuga. As Hinata looked around at the stark white walls and the friendly lady at the desk, she couldn't find any of the scum and dirt the man had spoken of.

_'Maybe he went to a bad hospital...'_

"Hina! Come on we got to go this way," Anko grabbed her hand and started to pull her down the hall.

"We have to go somewhere, Hinata please don't listen to your illiterate Kaa-san," Ibiki said from beside them.

"And don't listen to your stuck up Tou-san either," Anko glared at him, "He can be a real kill joy sometimes," she whispered in Hinata's ear.

Hinata giggled, "Kaa-san, why are we in a hospital?"

"Well Hinata your here for a check-up! Every year, little kids like you have to go to the hospital to make sure that everything is working right,"

"Oh, alright. What do they do?" Anko was by no means tall, but Hinata still craned her neck to look into her face.

"Well, it's a little different for ninjas, but the doctors will check your heart and lungs, they'll check your blood pressure and reflexes oh and they'll make you say ahhhhhh,"

Hinata laughed.

"Yeah, that's exactly what they do. Hinata? We have a room number now, so let's go, that means you too Anko," Ibiki looked at the woman who was trying to get away in the opposite direction.

"I know, I know, I'm coming," she sighed, "damn hospitals."

They followed the colorful, numbered arrows till they got to Room 31. The room was off-white with a light blue trim on the ceiling, cardboard cutouts of butterflies hung from the ceiling.

Ibiki scrunched his nose up and Anko scoffed, living in a crayon box hadn't made them anymore tolerant to light colors and fluffy things. However, they both say down in the two waiting chairs after Anko put Hinata on the bed; so maybe it had.

"Hello," a nurse said as she walked into the room. She was wearing a standard light green shirt and matching pants with her white lab coat over top; her forehead protector was stitched on her coat over her right breast. Her brown hair was practically put up in a ponytail, "my name is Dr. Atsuko. You must be Hinata." She smiled.

"Yes ma'am," Hinata smiled back.

"And you are her parents?"

"Well-"

"Yes." Anko answered for them. Ibiki sent her a glare, they were guardians not parents.

"Are we just here for a check-up or has Hinata not been feeling very well lately?"

"Just a check-up Doctor."

"Actually," Anko gave Ibiki a look before turning back to the doctor," I was wondering if you had a way to check her chakra levels. I don't know if I'm right, but they _feel_ like they're too big for her. Is there any way you can check?"

"Yes there are a few tests we can do Mitarishi-san, none of them are very advanced but combined they give us a good result. They do take a bit of time though, a few hours to perform then another day or so till we get the results. I'm almost positive that it's nothing to worry about, children grow at different rates and sometimes, in cases of ninja especially, their chakra networks develop before the rest of their body."

"Yes that is exactly what I told her, thank you Dr. Atsuko."

"But I would _still _feel better if we got them checked."

"That's quite alright ma'am, any good mother would want the same thing." Dr. Atsuko smiled graciously, "Now I just have to go get some forms for the tests and a few basic shots for our little Hinata."

The door shut. "Hear that? 'Any good mother would do the same thing' _she_ thinks that _I'm_ a good mommy." Anko smirked.

"Congratulations, now all you need is a child."

"Bastard, squirt over here's my brat. I wouldn't ever want another one either, gettin' one this sweet was pure luck."

"She'd be sweeter if you didn't teach her such foul language."

"I did no such thing! I haven't taught Hinata a damn thing that wasn't good for her. You know not to repeat anything I say, right squirt?"

"Right Kaa-san!"

"See? All's good." She slung an arm around Ibiki's shoulders. He glared at it. "You just got to let loose sometimes Ibiki-kun, otherwise your going to end up old and bitter and too weak to go wreak any kind of havoc what-so-ever!"

"You see though, if I let loose there would not be one responsible adult living in our home." He was still glaring at the arm.

"Are you trying to insult me? You-"

"Hello again! Here are the forms you two need to fill out, now why don't you guys go outside in the lobby real quick and I'll just give Hinata the shots she needs."

"Sounds good, come on Anko."

"Now wait just a minute, are you going to be okay her alone Hinata?"

"Yes Kaa-san! I'll be okay." She smiled and showed her two dimpled cheeks.

"Aren't you a brave girl! Well this shouldn't take too long at all so you can fill out the forms now if that's alright."

"Of course." Ibiki said.

Anko and Ibiki walked side by side in utter silence back to the lobby. While Ibiki was perfectly content with this, Anko was getting a bit restless.

"Hm," Anko said, "first question; does your child have any allergies?"

"I don't think so, she eats just about everything right?"

"No she's allergic to pineapple and dog hair."

"Dog hair? How did you learn that one?"

"Weeell, we were at the pound once, Hinata and I, were just thinking, only thinking now, that _maybe _getting a puppy wouldn't be such a bad idea."

"No."

"Oh come on!"

"Hinata is allergic anyway so it's a moot point."

"Hmph, she could get over it. I always wanted a puppy." Anko crossed her arms and pouted.

"Too bad. Now next question."

"Fine. Has your child ever broken any bones?" Anko looked to Ibiki, "I don't think so."

"No she has. While we were training. She broke her thumb."

"You broke her thumb? What's wrong with you? How did that even happen?"

"Oh shut up, she tripped and fell on it. I most certainly did NOT break her thumb."

"Just so we're clear, she's never training with you again unless I'm in the room."

"Perfect, you can be the practice dummy."

"Bastard," she mumbled, "Lets just finish the stupid sheet. Here, you take half and I'll take half and then we'll check them. Sound good?"

"Perfect." He smirked.

"Mitarishi-san?"

"Hm what? Yes I'm here!"

The nurse giggled as Anko stumbled out of the chair. "Hinata-san got all of her shots and we completed the tests. She's ready to go home with you now."

"Oh, well thanks! That was pretty quick, I thought the doc said it would take forever hehe."

"It took three hours miss. You took a little nap after you finished the paperwork and Morino-san turned it in for you."

"Morino-san? Oh yeah, where is Ibiki anyway?" Anko peered around the waiting room but it was mostly empty discounting the few nurses running around.

"He said he had a mission and needed to leave. He told us that you could take little Hinata-san home."

"And he didn't even say good-bye to me?" Anko huffed, "Oh well then, I'll get him back later. Can you show me to Hinata?"

"Of course Mitarishi-san, right this way."

Ibiki got back at around five in the afternoon.

"Ibiki-kun! I'm glad you're here because I have to run. Missions, you know?" Anko smirked.

"Yeah, I know alright. Get your happy ass out of the house already."

"Jeeze, bad day at work sweetie? Well that's okay because Hinata and I made cookies! We even cleaned the kitchen."

Skeptical, he turned to Hinata, who was covered in flour and maybe a bit of dough,

"Really now? She didn't slip anything funny into these 'cookies' did she?"

"Nope, they're chocolate chip!" she grinned.

"Oh stop being so paranoid. I suppose if it would help you I will eat a cookie." Anko took one from the plate in Hinata's hands and popped it in her mouth. "See?" she mumbled, mouth almost too full to talk, "Nothing to be afraid of."

"Says the woman about to choke." He sighed, "Go on, you can go I'm satisfied, now scram."

"Aw, my poor darling is grumpy, I'll cheer you up when I get back from my mission; I promise sweetie-pie." Anko leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. This was a normal occurrence now but it didn't stop it from irritating the crap out of him.

There was no real reason to ask her to stop though, she wasn't hurting him after all.

As Anko left the house, through the window because the door is too average, Ibiki took a

cookie from Hinata's plate.

"So," he asked her, "did Anko really clean the kitchen Hinata?"

She shook her head.

No.

"Dammit."

* * *

Ibiki was exhausted. He had a newfound respect for civilian house wives. He slumped into the living room chair, relishing the piece and quiet.

"Tou-san?"

Maybe if he ignored it, it would go away.

"Tou-san?"

Keep trying.

"Tou-san my tummy hurts."

Not going to work. "What was that Hinata?"

"My tummy hurts again."

"Well I guess that means we'll have to train a bit before we go to bed." Ibiki sighed.

"But it really hurts, I don't think it's a good idea to train right now." She bit her lip nervously

"Hinata it's a stomach ache, you get them all the time and working off excess energy always makes it feel fine." He said.

Irritation was seeping through.

"When you become a ninja you won't be able to stop a mission just because of something small like that."

"B-but it's not small Tou-san, it really hurts..." she looked up at Ibiki. His stern eyes, almost cold but not quite, shot fear through her, why fear? she wondered but now wasn't the time.

"Yes, sir." she whispered.

"Good, now let's go outside and when we're done training you're going to bed early understand?"

She nodded without protest and followed him when he got up from the chair.  
Their backyard was yet another thing that didn't match the peaceful civilian neighborhood. It had no garden, there was no lush grass and while the lack of flowers upset Hinata, the mini training ground delighted her. It was a barren stretch of hard, packed dirt with white lines painting a faux arena in the middle and heavily padded post watching the sides. It may not have very pretty but Hinata loved it all the same.

Right now however, she wanted to be in her bed with Anko reading her a book. Not at the training ground where she would need to force herself to work through the intense pain in her stomach.

"We won't do too much tonight Hinata, you can just go through a few katas and then practice the ninjutsu I've been teaching you."

She wanted so badly to refuse, to say no, but she only nodded. For how could she stand to disappoint him?  
Anko had showed her some new sets from another form called kempo karate. It was more of a medium style that had equally balanced use of punches and kicks but as everything else she had learned from Anko; it was nothing like the jyuuken.

Hinata slowly went over each step in the form, trying to find a rhythm that would help her ignore the pain.  
By the time her last kata was over Hinata felt little better and there were beads of sweat running down her face.  
Ibiki, who had observed her sets, smiled lightly. "That was very good Hinata. It was slow, but speed comes with time."

She beamed at him despite her weariness.

"Now go ahead and practice that new jutsu I showed you."

"Yes, sir." Hinata plopped ungracefully and settled into an Iindian style sitting position.  
Ibiki meanwhile walked up the two steps of the back porch to sit himself down in a chair Anko had bought. It was the only thing in their entire house that was a nice, basic black.

The few beads of sweat that had rested on Hinata's forehead had multiplied within seconds. She could feel them stinging her eyes as they made their way down the back of her neck. Why was it so hard today?

Ibiki stared at her curiously, she usually grasped it pretty quickly. It was merely a training jutsu that was used to practice chakra control by sending a small amount of chakra out to all the points in the body, but Ibiki hoped it would have a second use for Hinata. Many of the Hyuuga's higher level main branch techniques involved the release of chakra from all points of the body, if Hinata could master this jutsu she would have a great advantage when she was finally taught her clans style.

As expected of a Hyuuga, Hinata had amazing abilities in the ways of chakra manipulation and as a result Ibiki use this jutsu as a warm up before training sessions and as a cool down afterwards. Today however was different. Hinata looked to be trying harder then ever but with no results at all. It was as if all contact to her chakra system had been cut off. What was going on?

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

Whoosh!

Both the chair and Ibiki were thrown backwards through the window and into the house.  
He couldn't breath. Where was it coming from? That amount of power.  
The entire backyard was covered in a blue fog. For as far as Ibiki could see from the ground there was a huge, visible pulse of chakra decimating everything in it's path.  
Ibiki fought to lift his head up and pure shock forced a breath from him.  
Hinata was kneeling in the middle of the yard with tremendous quantities of chakra pouring out of every tensuke in her body. Her clothes were disintegrating, her hair was everywhere, and she was screaming with everything she had.  
Ibiki pushed himself to his knees. Then his feet. He managed to take three steps before the wave stopped. Half-a-step before Hinata fainted. After five more, he did too.

The neighbors who had heard the scream, and felt the pulse, immediately called the ambulance.

Beep...  
Beep...  
Beep...  
Beep...  
Beep...

_'If Anko doesn't turn off that infernal alarm I will smash it to pieces.' _

Ibiki opened his eyes but his vision was surprisingly blurry and that sound wasn't making his headache any better.

His fist came out from the bed sheets and slammed down beside him, but he was jolted awake when he felt his fist pass through nothing-ness.

White. Everything around him was white, except for his clothing that was sitting in a chair. A hospital chair. A hospital chair? What?

"Ah, Morino-san, it's nice to see that you're awake."

A young nurse, an intern maybe, walked into the room. "You really shouldn't be though, you only arrived two hours ago."

"I'm fine," he said standing, "now if you would be so kind as to tell me why I am here?"  
"You don't remember? Oh well, I suppose that shock _could _have had something to do with that but then..."

"There's no need for you to voice your thoughts to me, all I want t know is why I am here."

The girl glared at him but shook her head and smiled lightly again. She really had to work on her bedside manners or she was never going to get her doctorate. Just like Akiko-sensei says; music is useless when dealing with beasts, just smile and it'll all be over soon...

"You and your daughter were brought here by an ambulance called by some civilians. You only suffered from some fatigue and first to light second degree burns but," her smile dropped, "but I'm afraid Hinata-san has very severe chakra burns and multiple organ failures. She is in critical condition Morino-san. I'm sorry."

"What? H-Hinata? How did this even..."

"We were hoping that you could tell us that Morino-san. The civilians said that they felt a hurricane starting up then terrible screaming, presumably Hinata-san, but then everything suddenly stopped and they called the hospital as soon as they could."

Hurricanes? Screams? "Morino-san? Did you remember what happened?"

"What does the doctor in charge of her say happened?"

"Huh?"

"Are you deaf? I asked you; what does the doctor in charge of her think happened?"

"That's classified...sir...I mean I can't really just...it doesn't work that way...I'm.. afraid..."

A little killing intent went a long way. "Tell me."

"W-well Dr. Tanahri told us that it _looks _like she obtained all of her injuries from intense chakra exposure and exhaustion. But she's so small that I doubt-"

"No, the doctor is correct. She must have, I didn't think...take me to the doctor."

The girl paused. Was he serious? Did he think she was going to risk her internship here because if so he had another thing coming.

"Take me now."

The room was cold, why was it so cold? The ground felt like it was going to give way at any second. What was wrong with her?

She shaking terribly and dropped her patient list on the floor. Her breaths were coming faster. _'He's a ninja...'_

"Was that a yes or no to taking me to the good doctor?"

"Y-y-yes s-sir."

The two didn't have to walk too far before they came across the doctor. "D-dr. Tanahri? T-t-this m-man needs to speak with you." She bowed deeply before running away.

"What do you need sir?"

"You will tell me about Hinata."

"What?"

"My name is Ibiki Morino and you are going to tell me about Hinata."

"Morino-san, I don't think-"

"I'm tired of people here telling me what they think. I honestly don't care what you think. All I want to know is what you have to say about Hinata. If you will say nothing to me willingly I have other ways of gathering information; now make a choice."

The young woman smiled kindly and brought her clipboard down to stomach level, seemingly unfazed. "Well we're fairly sure that it's nothing Morino-san. Everything is perfectly alright,"

"Alright my ass; Hinata just released an unknown amount of chakra. I thought the village was under attack! It is not _'nothing'_ and it is definitely not _'perfectly alright'_. That's bullshit and I want to know what's happening and I want to know now," Ibiki was seething and this… this...so called doctor had nothing to say to him?

"Chakra is complicated Ibiki-san. The knowledge available is neither large nor concrete. We don't yet know what is going on with Hinata-san but we are working on it," her polite smile was gone, replaced by narrowed eyes and a miniscule frown.

"Then give me your best guess," Ibiki's voice was low and impatient. Hinata may be in danger and no one in this damned hospital could figure anything out.

"Well Morino-san," for some reason it made Ibiki feel a little better to know someone else's temper was drawing short as well, "What we do know about chakra is that, in some ways at least, it's a little like blood. Their cell structures are similar and there multiplication rates also tend to be alike in some areas." explained Dr. Tanahri.

"We know that about a third of the human population have genetically larger chakra reserves and that many of that number go on to become ninjas. Then we have the average who stay as civilians most of the time. There is a part of the population however, much smaller in number, that who have extremely low reserves; few become ninjas anyway, but if so, they specialize in weaponry or taijutsu." She looked to Ibiki to see if he was following her.

"Your daughter on the other hand, seems to have the opposite problem. Her chakra cells are multiplying at an abnormal rate, and while her reserves grow to accommodate the new number of cells, her body is small and doesn't know what to do with it. This causes what we saw today; a massive release of un-used chakra. We are currently running more tests, but so far that's all we've managed to come up with."

"What about solutions? Got any of those?"

Ibiki was getting more irritated by the second. Not only did they know virtually nothing, but so far, they didn't even have a _temporary_ solution for Hinata.

"At the moment no, but we'll notify you as soon as we do. Hinata will be fine; you'll just have to be patient with us. We will find a way to help your daughter Morino-san, I promise.," the syrupy politeness was returning to Dr. Tanahri's voice. It was boarder-line mocking, how she was speaking in a situation like this.

"I want to see her," his anger was still there, just thrust under the cover of a monotone.

"See her? Now?" she asked, "Oh! Morino-san she's not awake, I don't think this is the best time,"

A very rehashed answer, in a very rehearsed tone. Ibiki hated it when people did that. Did they not think people could tell? If the civilians couldn't, that was their problem but did the staff honestly think pulling that with ninja would work?

"Let me ask you something doc; if I don't care about what, then what makes you think that I care what the best time for you is? I want to see Hinata and I want to see her now!"

Dr. Tanahri ran a hand though her hair before retreating back to her pocket and threw a nod toward Ibiki. Her shoulders were noticeably tenser and her fingers danced around the edges of her clipboard as she walked.

They walked through the hospital for a good quarter of an hour; each minute that passed led them down another corridor. The number of civilians started to decrease, then slowly so did the ninjas till they arrived at a section where even a stray nurse was rare. Quiet and secluded, 'faculty only' signs littered the walls; the Hokage must have had the room specially prepared for Hinata.

Ibiki would have to remember to thank him for that later.

A few more doors and the Dr. Tanahri stopped, "Room 561; Hinata,"

As soon as the door opened, every ounce of anger left him. Hinata was so pale, she would have melted into the sheets if it weren't for her hair. So different from the healthy looking girl he had talked with not two days ago. There were tubes sticking out of her arms carrying various liquids that were most likely keeping her alive. She was hooked up to three different machines all beeping and humming in time with the tiny rise and fall of her chest. There were bandages covering her entire body, covering hundreds of chakra burns.

There were just so many wounds for such a small, little girl.

He felt a hand on his shoulder but didn't bother turning around, "We're doing everything we can to save your daughter Ibiki-san, I promise.,"

Before the woman walked away, she was able to hear the words that came after.

"Thank you," It was the little moments like that, when she saw the hard exterior of ninjas fall, did she remember that they were just as human as anyone else in the village.

Three hours later and Ibiki was still in the hospital chair, he couldn't get the doctor's words out of his head-_'…your daughter…' _

Yes some father he was. He ignored what Anko said, he ignored what Hinata said, he was no better than Hiashi.

Anko…she was due back from her mission in seven more hours, Ibiki would sit in the chair and watch Hinata for seven more hours; just to make sure she was okay. He would make it up to her eventually and this was a start.

He couldn't figure out what happened, what went wrong? How did it go from a slight stomach ache to a coma? It all happened too fast for him, he didn't know what to do when she started screaming, even less so when she stopped. He called himself a ninja; ninjas knew what to do in every situation but, he couldn't even help his daughter.

His daughter. Was that what she was now? His daughter, yes that sounded right. He had helped her grow for three years and in return she had helped him as well. He knew so much more now than he ever did before; he knew how to make a child stop crying, he knew how to correctly put a band-aid on a scrape, he knew how to tell a good bed-time story, he knew how to feel compassionate. Eventually he would also know how to make it up to her.

"I promise," he told her, "I promise that I'll be better this time around, and I'll never make you train when you don't want to, I promise I'll get you cinnamon rolls at three in morning, I promise I'll help you with your lessons when Anko's on a mission, I promise…I promise I'll do better.,"

Ibiki continued to mumble promises for the next twenty minutes till he slipped into his own kind of coma.

Anko was stopped almost the minute she entered the gates.

"Pigeon-san, nice to see you again and all but what's the rush?" Anko smiled at the messenger ANBU with her hands on her hips.

Pigeon did not respond.

"Hey! What's wrong are you okay?"

"I am fine Anko-san.,"

Anko-san, that was new.

, "I am here to escort you to the hospital,"

"Pigeon-san," she said calmly, "I'm fine, I don't need medical attention.,"

"Anko-san...you are not the reason we need to go to the hospital," Anko's eyes widened, Pigeon stayed in Konoha as the Hokage's personal messenger; he assigned S ranked missions for the Hokage. He handled other private matters that no one but the Hokage and his messenger knew anything about. However, there was another thing he was known for; delivering the news of dead loved ones.

Anko didn't say anything before she ran in the direction of the hospital, Pigeon was close behind.

She burst through the hospital doors; startling the elderly couple in the corner and the man speaking with the receptionist. She went straight to the secretary, pushing the man she was talking with to the ground. She turned to Pigeon, he sighed, "Morino Hinata's room please.,"

Anko's heart almost stopped, she was prepared for it, she knew that it was most likely Hinata in the hospital but that made no difference in the shocked feelings she had.

"Snake," she heard the man whisper. She saw the secretary shaking and she didn't have to turn around to know the old man had stepped in front of his wife, "Visiting the victim? Disgusting," he was getting louder as Anko wasn't responding., "You're scum! You sicken all of us, leave that poor girl-"

_CRACK_

The man was slammed against the wall, the sound of his head against plaster echoed through out the room. His green shirt was held in a death grip as he stared into an expressionless, faceless, sea of white.

"That 'poor girl' is _Anko's_ eight year old daughter," Pigeon said harshly. His words were slightly muffled through the mask, but the tone was clear, "She is this _Konoha kunoichi's _most special person, and she is in the hospital. Now shut your god damned trap before you hurt someone that, for all you know, may very well be at a funeral the next day." the ANBU threw down the man, " You are the scum here, you sicken me!,"

Pigeon turned around and took Anko by the shoulder; he would find the damn room his-self.  
As they walked away the blond civilian man watched, mystified at the tears he saw running down that woman's face. She was a monster. She was the apprentice, the self proclaimed younger sister of Konoha's greatest disgrace next to Itachi Uchiha. Yet she was crying, for a little girl no older than nine.

It took twenty minutes for any of them to move, and another ten for anyone to speak; as it turned out it was the elderly woman that had been cowering behind her husband. "She was crying because she was scared for her daughter," her voice cracked, "the ANBU is right, we should be ashamed.,"

The very next day there would be two bouquets of flowers, a freshly baked cake, and a get well card addressed to Hinata Morino and Anko Mitarishi.


	7. Chapter 7

After the longest time of having no clue how to start this chapter, the first sentence came to me when I was trying to sleep. It did not help me sleep, in fact I jumped out of bed and onto my laptop and finished the whole thing in a little under two hours. It's not as long as I usually do but I've been on vacation mostly and I think you guys desrve at least a little something after so long.

P.S. Feel free to leave plot ideas, really

Thank you simmeringtofu :)

shikahina : 23  
sasuhina : 21  
gaahina : 16

* * *

They hadn't spoken in over a month.

Ever since Hinata had slipped into a coma, whenever Ibiki wasn't there, Anko would come into the hospital to check on her. Only to find that she felt too lonely to stay there for more than an hour and a half.

Ibiki was in Hinata's room whenever he wasn't on a mission, which was becoming less and less frequent. Every time he took one step inside the room he was swarmed with thousands of guilty thoughts. Some just blamed him, some demanded to find out what happened, but most just wanted him dead. Ibiki found that he couldn't quite disagree.

Today however was a rare occasion. Neither Ibiki nor Anko had a mission, so there they were, on opposite ends of the room, watching each other when the other wasn't looking.

Ibiki could see every single tear hiding behind Anko's eyes. He could tell she was heartbroken from the very first day. She hadn't even screamed at him when she barged into the room, ANBU close behind. He had expected her to throw a fit. To scream and yell and throw things at him. He expected it, he was prepared for it, but it never came.

He had crushed so many souls in his line of work, but he had never looked into their eyes while he did it. Before the people were filled with fire, but when he was through with them, they were dull and gray. His former sensei had told him to avoid leaving them in-between. Now he knew why.

It crushed one's oul to know that they caused the slow death of another's will. To watch as every last drop of joy, and life was squeezed from someone and know that, without a shadow of a doubt, that it was your fault. It pained him to be here with her and see her dead light brown eyes. That was why he stayed. He deserved it after all.

Anko noticed things too. She noticed how thin Ibiki was getting. She noticed the dark bags under his eyes. The pale coloring his skin had taken to. The small 5 o'clock shadow that hadn't been there before. He wasn't taking care of himself anymore, she could tell.

Suddenly he stood up.

"Where are you going?" Anko asked without looking at him. Her voice was hoarse, like she hadn't spoken in a while. Maybe she hadn't.

"To the Hokage's office. To get a mission." He replied.

"No you're not."

"What?" He said confused.

"No. You're not going." She turned towards him now and he could just barely make out the former Anko with the current one's sullen features.

"I need to Anko." He said gently. He hadn't had to use that tone for a month and a half now, he wasn't even ashamed to say he had missed it.

"No. No, you don't." She said fiercely. "You can't! You...you don't have the right! You don't have the right t-to leave me here, all by myself!" Anko jumped up from her seat and stormed over.

"Do you hear me? You. Don't. Have. The. Right." Her voice was rising with every word and Ibiki could only stand there. "You can't just leave me again. I need you. I-I need you here, with me, because...because I can't do this by myself!" She shouted.

Anko collapsed into Ibiki, crying every tear she'd been holding in since the first day of the incident. Again Ibiki just stood there, but this time his arms were tightly wrapped around Anko. He wouldn't leave her, he would never leave her or Hinata. Ever.

"I'm so scared Ibiki."

"I know," he said squeezing her tighter, "I am too."

Many miles away Sarutobi spoke to a small black haired woman in his office.

"I need her here Shizune." He said calmly.

"She won't come Hokage-sama! I've mentioned Konoha again and again but she's dead set against it!" The woman was anything but calm and the small pig in her arms was the unfortunate recipient of her pent up nerves.

"Hmm,"

"S-sir, maybe if you just told me _why _Lady Tsunade needed to come back to Konoha so urgently I might be able to make some kind of case to her." Shizune bit her lip, obviously uncomfortable with offering advice to her higher ups.

Sarutobi sighed, "I was hoping that she may come home because I asked. However it appears I will have to lure her here instead." He fixed his steady gaze on the young woman and she fidgeted. "What I'm about to tell you must be told to no one but Tsunade and after that I need you to make sure no one finds out what her research is for."

"Her research sir?"

"Yes. I have a very unique patient for her."

* * *

Why did everything have to be so loud in the mornings? The bird's with their chirping and the people with their talking. No one here knew the value of a nice quiet morning. Maybe she should move to the mountains, it's quiet there...but there are no casino's in the mountains...damn.

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune peeked her head through the hotel door, "Are you awake? It's already noon."

"No, no I'm not now go away Shizune." Tsunade turned onto her stomach and pulled the covers over her head. Stupid sunlight, getting on her nerves. Maybe she needed a cave instead of a mountain...there were still no casinos in a cave...

"Tsunade-sama you need to wake up. Tsunade-sama!" Shizune walked purposefully into the room and tore off the covers.

"Nooooooo," Tsunade moaned. She twisted around and gave Shizune a dark look. Shizune swallowed nervously.

"I need to talk to you Tsunade-sama, please it's very important."

Tsunade gave up on the look and simply buried her face back into the pillow, "Tell you what," she mumbled, "you go get me a cup of sake and I'll talk as much as you want me too."

"Tsunade-sama!"

"Not so loud, Shizune!"

"Sorry," she whispered, "but I need you sober for this conversation my Lady."

"What conversation is so important that I can't have a nice big bottle if sake while-"

"I went to Konoha last night. To talk with the Hokage."

"Y-you what?"

Shizune plugged her ears.

"You what?" Tsunade yelled. "What on Earth made you _so _desperate that you had to go there, there of all places! And to Sarutobi? Really?"

"B-but I had to go Tsunade-sama! He called me _personally_. We may travel Tsunade-sama, but that doesn't mean that were not still Konoha citizens bound by the Hokage's law."

"I know that," Tsunade snapped. "Is that all? Because if it is you _owe_ me a cup of sake." Shizune could tell that Tsunade was upset, but not angry thankfully. There would have been a lot less talking and a lot more smashing if Tsunade was angry. Taking a deep breath for courage, Shizune continued.

"No, that's not all Tsunade-sama, he-he has a patient for you. Someone that really, really needs your help!"

Tsunade scoffed and stood up, "He's exagerating Shizune, whatever it is Konoha has pleanty of capable medical ninja. I made sure of it before I left."

Shizune shook her head back and forth, "They can't Tsunade-sama, they need _you_!"

"Like hell they do, listen just calm down and go get yourself a nice tea, and while your at it there's a sake shop down there too." Tsunade slammed the bathroom door.

It was quiet for a few minutes while Tsunade was washing her face. She had assumed that Shizune had follow her directions and gone down to get the drinks. That was why she was so surprised when Shizune was still standing outside the bathroom. With a small packet.

"What? Shizune, you really need to lighten up. You look like I just told you I sold Tonton." Tsunade grinned.

Shizune didn't smile back, "Just read the papers Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade sighed, "I'm always so busy," She was quiet as she read the papers but afterward she let out a loud bark of laughter. "This is what Sarutobi classifies as an important case?" She shook the papers, "Shizune there's no need to get worked up about this. Some idiot jonin couldn't control his nin-jutsu and it ended up sucking him dry and backfiring. It's no big deal, the idiot deserves a good stay in the hospital."

Tsunade looked up a Shizune to see, not relief, but sadness. "Tsunade-sama, that paitent file isn't about a jonin, or even a chunin. Paitent S19 is Hyuuga Hinata, age eight."

"W-what?"

The papers fell to the ground.

Silence.

They stood facing each other, but only Shizune was seeing what was in front of her. "Shizune?"

"Yes Tsunade-sama?"

"Pack all of my bags and have them waiting at the door. I have to make a quick trip to the library." Tsunade's face was hard.

"Of course Tsunade-sama." Shizune smiled as her Lady walked purposefully out of the room. For once, she was glad Tsunade thought with her heart.

Tsunade was sitting in the lobby of the hotel. She had started in the direction of the library, but stopped. What was she looking for? She didn't know anything about this kid.

How did she get enough chakra to cause that kind of damage, was it an attack? Did some sick bastard stand behind her channeling chakra through her?

What kind of condition was she in now? Could she tell them _exactly _how she felt when this was going on? Where she felt the pain, what kind of pain was it?

None of these questions could be answered from library books. She needed to get to Konoha as quickly as she could, these non stop questions were driving her insane.

She took a long drink of her tea and grimaced. What she really wanted right now was a nice big bottle of sake all to herself, but even she knew when to stop.

_'Or not'_ Tsunade thought as she watched Shizune walk down with a bottle of sake from her secret stash.

"In the bathroom Tsunade-sama? Do I honestly need to look the bathroom cabinets too?" Shizune reprimanded.

"No, no of course not Shizune. I'll just take care of that for you." Tsunade quickly snatched the bottle from the angry Shizune.

"No Tsunade-sama! Put it down now! Please! Stop chugging it Tsunade-sama your going to give yourself a stomach ache!"

Sarutobi laughed as he watched Shizune chase Tsunade around the hotel lobby through his crystal ball. Civilians screeched, chairs were knocked over and tables were turned on their sides.

Sarutobi shook his head, God help Konoha.

* * *

Hinata had always thought that when she was in danger she would want her Otou-sama. She had wanted him that night when the ninja stuffed her inside the sack, so it would make sense that when a situation like that appeared again, she would want her Otou-sama to come and help her.

That wasn't what she wanted though.

When she had felt the world ripping her apart she hadn't want her Otou-sama. When the wind started whipping around and when the pressure started to _burn _she hadn't wanted him then. She had wanted her Tou-san. She had wanted her Tou-san and her Kaa-san to come and help her.

And now, when Hinata was lost and scared, when it was so dark and she only had herself to talk to. She still wanted her Kaa-san and Tou-san.

Hinata wanted them to drive away the monster's in the dark. They were hidden all the time, they slunk around behind her, but no matter how quickly she turned around, they always manged to move faster.

The monsters, that's all Hinata called them, held one thought each and when Hinata couldn't think of anything else- they attacked.

Some of them had different voices, but most of the monsters had the same distantly harsh tone. They said horrible things to her; insulting her stance (which one? Kaa-san had taught her many), her manners, her now non-existent stutter. They scared her and made her want to cry, but when she did they go worse.

So instead of listening to the monsters, Hinata thought of home. Of her room with the paintings. Of cooking with her Kaa-san. Of reading with her Tou-san. Of training. Of taking walks. Of cleaning. Of gardening. Of pressing flowers. Of writing. Of meditating. Of coloring. Of laughing. Of anything and of everything.

Sometimes she thinks that she'll run out of things that keep the monsters away, but she knows that her Tou-san and Kaa-san will save her before then. She smiled and sat on the invisible floor. Her parents would rescue her, she just knew it.


	8. Chapter 8

Hi Everybody! Please don't be too mad at me, junior year is so much harder than I expected it to be!

To make you feel better, not only have I finished this chapter, but chapter 9 has already been sent to my beta and chapter 10 is being worked on as diligently as possible.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Thank you simmeringtofu for beat-ing this! Your comments were sooo helpful

I want to thank all of my wonderful reviewers who I'm hoping haven't gotten bored with me:

evil-x-love: I felt so insanely loved when I read your review, really me so happy. You made my entire week when I read your review so THANK YOU!

SasuHina4ever: Sasuhina vote is added lol thanks :)

aka hitomi: Sorry it wasn't fast but since the next one is already written chapter 9 will be up as soon as I get it back from my beta.

XxXElementalWarriorXxX: I want some of those cookies! But you'll have to find more shikahina reader because it isn't up to me lol

NamirPyralis: Yeah sometimes I think he's a tad too obbsessed, he might be highly OCD and just have a very obbsessive personality. It's a possiblity lol and I will be wary of that if it ends up being a sasuhina pairing.

fujingodofwind: Here it is, Im glad you liked chapter 8.

Amaya Mizuki Baron: I know Ibiki was cold lol but hey, he's better now and just think of all the cute protective daddy moments to come.

Silent Winds of Oblivion: Gaara it is, thanks for the vote!

LoveOverHate: There really isn't much for shikahina is there? It's a tad upsetting.

Hunny's Little Bun-Bun: Hahaha

sKyLaR KnIgHt: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much.

fierynightangle: Here it is and I even have chapter 9 as soon as it's beta-ed.

Echo Uchiha: That, though one word, is a great compliment. Lol thank you :)

Laila Rose: Pairing noted, and that does make sense and I can't wait to write some protective daddy moments haha.

sumo is: Aw shucks, thanks :) and don't worry about the length, I'd miss writting Hinata far too much to keep her away for a whole 6 chapters lol but (this isn't for sure) she'll probably wake up in chapter ten. I don't think that gives away tooo much. And I'm glad it seems like I have control. I really jumped into this without a clear idea of where I exactly wanted it to go, so now that I've gotten into it I'm stating to struggle a bit. But I won't put it on hold!

4Evr.-A.-fAIlUrE: I feel so amazing reading these reviews! I'm glad you were so happy with it and here is Tsunade's appearence! She'll stick around for a while too, so we'll see where that leads.

Acumichi: Thanks for the compliment! and I think Anko would be proud of your suggestion but multi-romance? I can't even keep track of one-on-one! hahaha once I get better I'll have to try :)

YingTang890: Wow that was so nice! Thank you, I try really hard with this and I'm glad I make someone happy :) and there will be genin team changes but I can't say anymore than that ;)

Sepsis: Aw thank you! I surprised even myself with that impromtu romance bit lol

mandy: I will try and thanks for voting!

Perminantly Lost in Thought: Shikahina vote! and I'm glad you liked it, I hope it was realistic even though it was shorter than what I usually do.

Radioactive-Pingo: I'm sorryyyyyy! I'll try and make it up to you soon...just not in this chapter.

wisdom-jewel: Vote accounted for! and I'm definitly going to make sure Naruto and Hinata are friends because, after all, no one can resist Naruto's awkaward adorableness lol

TwiliFay: Sorry this took so long, but thank you for being my first review! I'm glad you liked the part with Hinata and her demons and I really hope you like this chaper too :)

* * *

Tsunade had officially worked her to the bone.

It had been non-stop traveling for _seven_days now, alternating between jogging and sprinting to the nearest village. Shizune sighed, they must have bought every book on advanced chakra workings ever written.

Shizune, though thoroughly exhausted, had an underlying feeling of...excitement? Traveling with Tsunade had always been eventful, she supposed, but not in the way she wanted. Every once in a while they would come across a village that they could tell really _needed_ help and they would stay until everyone was healthy again. For the most part though, Shizune spent her time dragging her shishou from casinos, taverns and running from people demanding Tsunade pay off her outrageous gambling debts.

Now though... now they were running to help a little girl survive. She was going to help Tsunade with something a little more complicated then a broken bone or a runny nose.

Excited as she was, the Hokage's warning stayed with her. Their new patient was the Hyuuga heiress. The catch was; the Hyuuga clan didn't know she was hurt. It was confusing and complicated, but he had assigned Shizune with the task of keeping the research classified; form outsiders _and _insiders.

Apparently an unarmed, unsealed, Byakugan wielding Hyuuga was quite the temptation.

So Shizune walked through town using a very efficient genin level stealth technique. Transformation jutsu. Today she was a very skinny male scholar of average height. His black hair was unkempt and forgetful gray eyes were further hidden by a pair of wire framed glasses. To top it off, his dark robe and prominent chin gave him the decided air of a wealthy man.

The reason for such a disguise?

Shizune had been sent to buy an expensive and advanced book on the multiple theories on how chakra was created.

Shizune had found that you were hassled less when you were male, bothered less when you looked tough and given more access when you looked rich.

It was however, decidedly harder to look aristocratic when you were carrying a book that weighed almost as much as you did.

Shizune transferred more chakra to her arms as she walked up the steps to their new room for the night.

"Lady Tsunade!" She yelled, dispelling the jutsu, "I have the book you wanted!"

Shizune smiled and heaved the colossal book onto the dining room table. When no reply came she frowned, "Lady Tsunade?"

"I'm in my bedroom." Tsunade said.

Shizune smiled and walked into the room, "Lady Tsunade, I have- oh my!"

Tsunade sat on the edge of the bed with three empty sake bottles on the floor, a fourth in her hand.

"W-where-!"

"Not yet Shizune, you can lecture me later. I wanted to ask you something."

Tsunade didn't look up from the floor but Shizune nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"What would you say if I told you I didn't want to go to Konoha anymore?"

Shizune's eyes widened and she didn't even think before she answered. The words just tumbled from her mouth, "I'd ask if you were drunk."

Tsunade laughed lightly and Shizune blushed. Before she had a chance to apologize, Tsunade spoke again, "I'm serious now Shizune, what would you say?"

Shizune walked over and sat next to her shishou. What would she say? "Well, I suppose I would say I was disappointed with you Lady Tsunade."

Tsunade's head didn't move. Shizune took a deep breath spoke with new conviction that she did not know she possessed.

"And I guess I'd say that I didn't think my Uncle Dan had fallen in love with a coward."

This time, Tsunade's head snapped up. Shizune kept her gaze calm even though she felt like there were a thousand of bugs crawling around her insides.

"That's what I thought," Tsunade sighed. "We'll be in Konoha tomorrow, I'll read the book then."

Shizune could have done cartwheels, she was that happy. This did not mean in any way, shape or form that she would be saying things like that to her shishou often. She liked her body where it was; not buried in concrete.

"What are you still doing here?" Tsunade asked falling back onto the bed. "We have a long day tomorrow, go to sleep."

"Yes Lady Tsunade!" Shizune picked up the sake bottles and walked out of the room. Not even cleaning up could ruin her mood now.

Tsunade woke up the next morning with a surprisingly small hangover. I guess the even the God of Alcohol knew when not to mess with her.

For the whole five miles the pair ran, Tsunade moaned and groaned. "I can't believe I'm going to Konoha because some crazy parent doesn't know how to watch their kid. Who lets a little girl mess with that much power? And why did it have to be _Konoha_ of all places! There are plenty of villages with neglectful parents but Konoha had to be the one with some fool using a kid as a chakra outlet."

This went on, and on and on, and on. By the time they finally reached Konoha, Shizune just about kissed the guards.

"State your name and business in The Leaf." A man recited in monotone. The look of boredom on his face said that he had been doing this for a while now.

"Tsunade Senju, you idiot, now let me in!"

Shizune giggled at the man's misfortune, she had been on the receiving end of Tsunade's anger one too many times _not_ to find this situation funny.

Konoha immediately brought a smile to her face. The bright colors and happy atmosphere were a drastic change from the seedy casinos Tsunade always found her way into. Why, with the Hokage paying your debts, would you insist on living in some of the worst conditions and eating food that was definitely violating the health code? It's not that she wanted to take advantage of the Hokage, but there has got to be a few more...respectable establishments that would be happy to rent a Sannin room there for a night.

"Shizune?"

"Yes, Lady Tsunade?" Shizune turned to the side.

"Wipe the smile off your face and let's go to the damn hospital."

Shizune stopped walking and blinked twice before shaking her head. She got her shishou to step foot in Konoha, she couldn't expect her to be happy too.

"Shizune!"

"Ah! Coming Lady Tsunade!" Shizune clutched Tonton and ran to catch up.

In all the time that Shizune had spent with Tsunade, she had grown to like the boisterous women and her never-ending commentary. Now, however, it was very quiet. She had seen Tsunade like this on only a few occasions and it both scared and excited her every time. The look of utter seriousness on her usually intoxicated shishou's face is something to behold. Watching her put this much dedication never failed to strengthen Shizune's admiration and resolve to learn even more from the woman.

"So Lady Tsunade, what do you hope to find out when we get to the hospital?"

"The basics at first; how it happened, where it happened, maybe even why. Do you know why asking those questions are important?"

Internally, Shizune beamed in happiness at the impromptu lesson, "'How'; because it's easier to treat something when you know what caused the disease or wound. 'Where' because sometimes the setting can cause complications such as; poison, allergic reactions, or the like. As for the 'why'...I don't know Lady Tsunade." Shizune bit her lip.

"We've never needed a 'why' before because we've been dealing with villages or towns without outbreaks of disease or they were multiple victims of a natural disaster. We never had a patient who was attacked. If we find out 'why' then we can hopefully prevent the patient falling ill or getting hurt again. This time we have to catch the attacker."

"Catch the attacker? I didn't know that was part of our job."

Tsunade looked at her student evenly, "Then you might want to take note of this Shizune; we are not simple doctors. We are medical ninja. We heal our patients and try to make sure they don't get hurt again. If a guy attacked a little girl like this and he did it for a reason, once we heal her, I'm willing to bet he'll come back for that same reason."

Shizune was in awe, there was no 'if' or hesitation when Tsunade talked about helping the girl. The pure strength she exuded was amazing. It had just occurred to her that at some point in time, her teacher had went on dangerous missions and probably had a brief stint as an ANBU operative. It hit her that there was so much she still didn't know about her teacher.

As they entered the hospital, it felt like everyone was staring at them, or more accurately, Tsunade. One nurse even dropped a whole box of scalpels and clamps in her shock. The civilian patients who did not know of Tsunade were deeply irritated by the way she seemed to pause time, however, nothing was said. All ninja knew of the tension between themselves and civilians but medical ninja were able to breech the social barriers more than others. As they were primarily healers, _most_ civilians managed overlooked their past as a basic ninja and thus they were used often in more serious civilian cases

All the medical staff knew Tsunade. Her prowess in the art of medicine and her chakra control was second to none. Doctors lined up to speak with her the very moment she walked through the doors. Thankfully though, she was immediately met by ANBU and escorted to the back of the hospital.

"It is an honor to see you back in Konoha, Lady Tsunade." The ANBU member said quietly. The high octave and small stature suggested female. The dove mask further propelled the allusion. Tsunade only nodded. Shizune knew that if Tsunade had it her way they wouldn't be here for very long.

It was very quiet on their walk down the hallways. After her one remark, Dove didn't say anything else and her partner made no move to fill the silence.

The two ANBU stopped abruptly in front of a door that seemed to be locked from the inside. Dove bowed deeply to Tsunade before disappearing.

Shizune's face twitched, not even a nod to Lady Tsunade's sole apprentice? Stupid, rude, barbaric, twit...

"Lady Tsunade," they turned to the remaining ANBU with the mask of a pigeon. His voice was solemn, "there are two people inside this door. They will be able to tell you everything you need to know about Hinata, but you have to be gentle. You will understand when you enter, but please remember, nothing they say or do should be taken seriously." With that he too, disappeared.

Tsunade twitched, "Thank you for the warning then." she grumbled.

"Um, Tsunade-shishou?" Shizune piped up.

"Yes Shizune?" Tsunade sighed.

"I think he was telling you to watch your temper." Tsunade cocked an eyebrow and Shizune continued quickly, "What I mean to say is that the two people in there are probably a couple, I bet they are Hinata's parents and they're just grieving. Grieving people do crazy things."

Tsunade blinked. For a few moments she found herself trapped in old memories that still felt so fresh.

"_Are __you __sure __Tsunade? __This __is __very __soon __after-__"_

"_I'm __positive __Hokage-sama,__" __She __wasn't __drunk __enough __to __slur __her __words, __but __Hizuren __could __smell __the __sake._

"_Well, __what __kind __do __you __want? __I __have __some __relaxing __C-ranks __going __to __the __east.__"_

"_I __already __have __one __picked __out __sir.__" __Tsunade __held __out __a __crumpled __piece __of __paper._

"_Oh? __Alright __then, __let's __take __a __look.__" __Hizuren __smiled,__Tsunade __did __not._

_Hizuren __glanced __at __the __paper __and, __in __shock, __started __to __read __the __mission __sheet __vigorously.__ "__No. __Absolutely __not.__"_

"_Why __the __hell __not, __old __man? __Huh?__"_

"_I __am __not __sending __you __on __a __suicide __mission __Tsunade.__" __Hizuren __jovial __attitude __had __vanished __and __his __stern __eyes __bore __into __Tsunade's._

_She shook with anger, "I want to go on this mission. Let me go, God dammit! Why won't you let me go?"_

"_Because __you're __being __an __idiot, __and __here __I __thought __that __was __Jiraiya's __job.__"_

"_Shut __up! __Don't __turn __this __into __a __joke, __tell __me __now!__" __She __slammed __her __hands __onto __the __desk.__Hizuren __did __not __flinch._

"_You __are __not __in __your __right __mind, __Tsunade, __I'm __assigning __you __to __hospital __duty.__"_

"_No, __screw __hospital __duty! __Screw __hospital __duty, __screw__you, __and __screw __Konoha. __I'm __leaving!__" __Tsunade __stormed __through __the __office __door __and __slammed __them __behind __her._

She later found out that she had slammed the door so hard, it had fallen apart only seconds after she left.

"Lady Tsunade?" Shizune waved her hand in front of Tsunade, the other one hugging Tonton close.

"You worry too much, Shizune, I'm perfectly calm."

_'Yes, __but __will __you __stay __that __way?'_ Shizune thought.

Tsunade knocked on the door and not two seconds later, it opened. It was a woman, petite and slim; she was obviously a kunoichi. By the looks of it, one who hadn't left the hospital in a few days. It wasn't that she looked greasy, she just...smelled like a hospital. Sterile and dry.

Her hair was a dulled deep purple that hung just shy of her shoulders. Shizune looked away, embarrassed at the woman's outfit. An oversized sweater wasn't too bad however the soft cashmere was almost a transparent gray, leaving her hot pink bra visible to all. The navy spandex shorts did nothing to soothe Shizune's mortification.

Tsunade though, skillfully ignored it.

"If you're not Tsunade, get the hell out of this room."

In the past, without the twitch of the eye, her teacher had pummeled people into the ground for less than that.

"I assure you that I am Tsunade, and this," she said gesturing to Shizune, "is my apprentice Shizune. She's going to help me fix Hinata."

Anko looked at the woman her age who met Shizune's gaze only for a second before scoffing. Anko moved out of the way to let them pass.

The room wasn't small but the mass of machines made it feel cramped. Hinata hadn't changed since the first night she was brought here. She was still pale as her sheets and her once bright blue hair was the only thing that stood out on her against all the white

Right beside Hinata, a man, clad in a black T-shirt and sweatpants, stood out terribly in the stark room.

They all sat down, staring. Anko at Tsunade, Tsunade at Anko, Shizune at Hinata, and Ibiki at his hands.

"Well I'm Tsunade Senju, this is Shizune. We're going to need to know absolutely everything about the incident in order to treat Hinata properly."

Both Ibiki and Anko nodded.

Tsunade took a small breath; it had been a while since she had to work with patients like this. "First, you need to tell me if you know who it was. And where, I need to know where he pumped the chakra in from."

Anko turned sharply at Ibiki. This was the first time that she had heard of any attack upon Hinata.

Ibiki furrowed his eyebrows deeply together, "I'm afraid you're mistaken, Lady Tsunade, there has been no attack."

"Are you calling me an idiot, Morino-san?"

"Excuse me?"

"You expect me to believe that all of these injuries were sustained _without_ an outside attack."

"Yes I do."

"Well, if there wasn't an outside attack," Tsunade said sharply, "then it must have been an accident."

"That's what I've been saying-"

"It's alright there's no need for further explanations Ibiki-san," she said stiffly, "it's very common for ninja families to push their children too far in their training. One stray hit and suddenly-"

"Are you saying that _I_ put her there?"

"What kind of bullshit, crazyass theory is that anyway?" Anko shouted with him.

Tsunade made a noise of irritation, "Well, how else do you want me to believe she ended up here? No child has jonin level chakra. I've ran into jinchuuriki and _they_ don't have that problem. At this age, their bodies are too fragile to be home to that much of a hostile substance, I assure you that it is physically impossible."

"Well I'm saying you're wrong!"

"I thought we already established that I am _not_ an idiot Morino-san."

"Good, because I don't need some green medic messing with Hinata's condition!"

"Green? I'm old enough to be your mother, you loud mouth little shit!" A tick mark appeared on Tsunade's head.

"You said, it not me. Lady."

Just as Tsunade was raising her fist, Shizune ran in front, "Tsunade-sama you can't do that."

"Like hell I can, this guy's got a smart mouth and he needs to learn a good lesson in when not to let it loose. Now move out of my way, Shizune."

Shizune held her ground. "The report never said that there was any kind of attack. It only gave us her symptoms, if we ever want to help her, we need them to tell us what happened."

She looked over Shizune's head to the ninja behind her, they had both taken up loose fighting stances with the woman slightly behind the male. She glared fiercely before sitting down again, "Start talking."

Both ninja were silent. Tsunade stared at them.

"I'm counting to five and if you don't start talking, I'm gone."

"One."

Shizune shot them a panicked glance, "You have to start talking, once she's gone she won't come back."

"Two."

"It's a miracle that we even got her here this time!"

They were still quiet.

"Three."

"Please I'm positive that she's the _only_ one who can save Hinata!" Shizune didn't know who she was begging for at this point. Her chances at an actual medical case were quickly slipping away.

"Four."

Then she saw it. The young woman elbowed the man harshly in the ribs.

"Fine. I'll tell you what happened, but you have to sit in that seat and listen to what I'm saying. No interruptions, no exclamations, no nothing. Just sit and listen." Ibiki said.

"Deal."

Ibiki sighed and tiredly sat back down. During the fight for dominance you couldn't really tell, with either of them honestly, the level of exhaustion they must be at. Shizune suddenly doubted that they had slept at all in at least the past three weeks.

"Hinata had been having stomach aches for maybe a month before the accident." Ibiki looked at Anko, who nodded in affirmation.

"We found that a little bit of training burned off some energy and got rid of the problem. This night wasn't any different then the others. I sent her to bed, she came out complaining about cramps so I took her out to train. I started her with a small warm up, just a few katas. Anko teaches her a wide variety of taijutsu basics and she always starts with those as a warm up." Ibiki looked down at his hands.

"She had tried so hard to tell me that it hurt more than normal, she said that she didn't think training was best right now, but I was so tired. All I wanted to do was get her winded down so she could go to bed. I didn't notice all the trouble she was having with the katas." He took a shuddering breath and continued.

"After the katas, I had her practice a chakra control technique that wasn't too difficult which would help her with some of the harder techniques she'd been bugging us about." He smirked. "I had told her that if she just got this _one_ technique down that I would show her a bunch of new ones that she would love."

"And then what happened, Morino-san?" Shizune really hated to be the one to ask as she saw his face darken.

"My mind was drifting a bit, but soon, I could tell she was having an unusually hard time with the technique. She almost had it mastered, and I'd never seen it take her so long to do it. Not even when she first attempted it. I didn't have a whole lot of time to ponder over it or anything. It seemed like the entire world decided to start spinning. The force knocked me clear through the wall, and I think it was only the intense pressure that kept me from going any farther." Ibiki shook his head in disbelief.

"I was caught completely off guard. There was no warning what-so-ever. One minute it was calm and the next, I was caught in a mini wind storm. Except that it wasn't just a wind storm. The entire area was covered in pure chakra. The sheer weight of it all kept me crawling, and the amount that was there...it burned, it literally burned to be so close to it. At first I thought that we were under attack and that the blanket of chakra was a decoy to keep me out of the way while they snatched Hinata. That thought got me moving and when I was outside, the first thing I started looking for was people. The chakra was almost an azure blue; it was thick, but there was no mistaking what I saw. Hinata was in the center of some sort of vortex, _she_ was the source of all that mayhem. _She_ was the one who was emitting all that chakra.

"I wasn't able to do anything to help her. Looking back, it didn't last too long, only seven minutes or so. But that seven minutes was pure agony. I listened to her scream her throat raw and was only being able to watch because the pressure kept me paralyzed. I watched as her power tore up trees, grass and rocks. The radius of the damage zone was astounding and frightening at the same time, I didn't know what to do. When the screaming finally stopped, I tried to make it over to Hinata, but I guess the chakra storm did a little more than just push me down. The medics said that my bones were in the process of being pulverized and that if the pressure had been kept up it would have surely damaged my inner workings. I didn't even notice."

Ibiki wasn't crying, he was too strong for that, but Anko held his hand anyway. The closest thing to public affection in over a decade.

Tsunade and Shizune were dumbfounded. The story itself checked out, there didn't seem any reason to lie or to go into that much detail for no reason. All signs pointed to the truth. But if the truth was really that then...then could they really cure her?


	9. Authors Note: Polls

Whoopsie, I forgot to update the poll.

Sorry about that, here you go-

Shikahina: 28

Sasuhina: 24

Gaahina: 24

It just keeps getting closer and closer!


	10. Chapter 9

Hi! Okay, so here is the latest chapter and I'm hoping the ending provides some sort of mini-closure because I'm in a mess of papers and community service and SAT/college stuff to focus on this a whole bunch.

BUT I am going to try to finish 10 in time for christmas break, my gift to you! After that though, it will be rare to see a chapter from me and for that I am so sorry.

BUT (again) I will try! I am certainly not giving up on the story :)

So thank you Simmering for editing! Your comments and changes make this whole process a lot easier (and less nerve wracking) for me :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

* * *

"Lady Tsunade, why are you reading all those books again? I thought you'd finished them before we got here." Shizune asked.

Shizune and Tsunade had been in the restricted section of the library for four hours immediately after Ibiki had told them his story. At the very beginning of what looked to be a fifth hour, a frighteningly old looking librarian came over and kicked them out.

If looks could kill, Shizune wasn't sure who would still be around: Lady Tsunade or the librarian.

Now Shizune, Tsunade and Tonton were at a very nice house that was near enough both the Hokage tower and the hospital.

Shizune came out of the kitchen with a tray of tea for herself and Tsunade. She tried, and nearly failed, to hand Tsunade a cup without spilling any on one of the many books that were lying on the dining room table.

Shizune sat down cautiously, watching Tsunade for any sudden movements. She hadn't even blinked when she took a sip of the tea. Never had Shizune known Tsunade to willingly accept a cup of tea when there was sake to be had. Even in her serious moments Tsunade liked a drink or two to calm her down, soothe her headache, clear her thoughts, or whatever other excuse she came up with.

"Yes, but before I had been reading them under the assumption that there was an attacker involved in this mess, and therefore a foreign chakra overriding the natural one. But if there was only natural chakra then it should make it less complicated, however, the police report coincides with Morino-san's story and therefore the massive amounts of chakra make it even more unreal."

"Lady Tsunade?"

"Thanks to that one assumption all of my previous notes are bunk. They are of no use to anyone now. I need to read these all again under a new light. I need to look for hints of birth defects or maybe it's a side effect of the Kyuubi's chakra. I have no clue anymore!"

Shizune sighed and slid down across from the furiously studying Tsunade. "I guess it's true then," she said, more to herself than anyone, "'assume' really does make an ass out of you and me."

Tsunade snorted, "Ain't that the truth."

Shizune went wide-eyed. Had she said that out loud?

The mortification wasn't quite as terrible as she thought it would be. Tsunade had thought it was amusing, she hadn't even been angry with her for speaking out! Maybe Tsunade's temper wasn't quite as quick as she'd thought.

"Why don't these damn scholars know how to condense anything?"

On the other hand…

Shizune giggled lightly.

Tsunade groaned, "If that stupid librarian had let me stay there just a little bit longer, I might have been able to look up Hinata's family tree. Then I could have gone somewhere with the hereditary theory." Shizune had gone ahead and told Tsunade about Hinata's family and though they were both thoroughly confused they decided to take in stride and simply add it to the embarrassingly small list of things they knew about Hinata.

"But, no, that old hag had to kick us out. She never liked me, even when I was an adorable genin."

"G-genin? Lady Tsunade, do you mean to say that that woman has been around since _you_ were a genin?"

"Yep, and she's as gray and wrinkly as ever. I always thought that if Orochimaru wanted the secret to immortality so bad he should just go talk to the hag."

Shizune tried desperately to hold it in, but ended up failing miserably and choking on her own laughter. She couldn't remember a time when her teacher had been so carefree with her.

Tsunade chuckled. "Alright, alright, enough fun and games. We'll have to work late if we want to finish this by tomorrow. Shizune, why don't you take these two books and work out some new notes for them. I'll take this one. When you're done with your notes just put them in this pile and then put the books in... this pile here okay?"

"Yes ma'am."

"I'm ignoring that, Shizune."

Shizune giggled. She knew she was going to be exhausted tomorrow morning, but she also had a feeling that it would be worth it.

At six in the morning, Shizune found that she had been right about being tired. She had not been right however, when it came to the fruits of their labor. Shizune had read seven books and had written a seemingly endless amount of notes, but Tsunade hadn't said anything about progress. Shizune was _not_ in the mood to ask.

"Oh, don't tell me your still miffed, Shizune."

Shizune simply turned away from her teacher, damp hair flicking water into the air.

"You're being way too sensitive. It wasn't even that big of a deal." Tsunade shrugged.

"You poured a bucket of ice water on me."

"You can't tell me that you haven't ever wanted to do the very same thing to me, Shizune." Tsunade smirked.

"Of course I've wanted to! I've just never acted upon that want!" Shizune glared at her teacher.

"Well maybe you should have, then you wouldn't be so angry." Tsunade laughed.

Shizune glared darkly, "I'll remember that the next time you're sleeping in, Lady Tsunade."

Shizune was shocked at her loose tongue. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, maybe it was the irritation of having ice cubes tossed down your shirt or maybe it was the city itself that was making her feel so calm around her teacher. She had a sneaking suspicion however, that just maybe, she and Tsunade were getting closer.

Presently, they were heading over to the hospital for a personal check of Hinata's vitals and small assessment of her condition. After that, it was back to the library where they would continue their research.

The attention Tsunade got from the hospital staff was less crazed than the day before, with good reason, as the head of the hospital had given everyone a very... stern warning about their theatrics the day before.

"Lady Tsunade, what use is the assessment when we don't even know to look for?" Shizune asked, "We already have a list of her injuries from the Hokage. I'm afraid I just don't understand."

"Shizune, I want you to think of everything that we know about Hinata. The information could barely fill a page. Giving a personal examination can tell you more than just what injuries were sustained. The reason _why_ we need to pay attention to everything is because we don't know where to start. At this point, anything about Hinata could factor into her condition."

Shizune nodded. When Hinata woke up Shizune was going to thank her to the moon and back. One small accident had sped up Shizune training, and her relationship with Tsunade, ten fold at least. She was learning the finer details of medical research and the importance of knowing the family's background. If Hinata hadn't gotten sick, Shizune would have been nursing Tsunade's hangover right now.

Maybe that was a selfish way to think, but it wasn't like Hinata wouldn't be cured. The Great Tsunade would personally see to that. So is it so bad to think she had gained a little bit from the situation?

Shizune's mind flashed back to the broken man's face.

_Maybe because there were people suffering for your gain._

In that one moment, it occurred to Shizune that in order for her to learn properly, people and their families needed to be suffering.

When she learned to treat burn wounds, there had been a horrible fire that consumed three apartment complexes. She had treated a man with minimal burns, but he was still weeping terribly. Thinking back, he had lost all of his belongings in that fire.

Or when she learned to pump water out of someone's lungs using only chakra. They had arrived in a village just in time for a flash flood. The village's population had been cut in half and no one had escaped losing a loved one.

But Shizune hadn't noticed then. She was a teenager, hell bent on being the best medic that she possibly could. It just occurred to her now that maybe knowing the techniques wasn't all it took.

She looked at Tsunade. This was a woman who started drunken brawls at seedy casinos. She drank whole bars dry and caused earthquakes when they refused to sell her any more sake. She was a hell raiser and dragon lady. But calm and collected now, she understood the seriousness of the whole situation. This wasn't a game.

"Shizune?" Tsunade asked.

"H-huh? Yes?" Shizune's eyes were brimming with tears of pride as she looked at her teacher. She was simply the most amazingly talented, beautiful-

"Why are you standing in front of the door? It's been ten minutes."

Shizune's face fell and her cheeks became a flaming shade of red. "I-I was just concentrating!"

"Daydreaming is more like it..." Tsunade mumbled. Shizune simply huffed and followed her teacher through the door.

It didn't look like anything had changed from the previous day. She was still ashen and frankly, the tubes jutting out of the small girl's body scared Shizune.

Tsunade however, went straight to work. "Hm, she's recently activated her Byakugan and the blisters on her hands show she's recently started weapons training. She has a very delicate bone structure, but that's to be expected from a child. Her muscles are abnormally swollen and fairly firm, she's already started training with chakra. Maybe for a few months now? We'll have to ask Ibiki and Anko. She's looking very thin, we'll have them up her nutrient IV. Shizune are you writing any of this down?"

Shizune, startled at the question, made a mad dash for a clipboard and immediately started writing, "Yes Lady Tsunade!"

Lady Tsunade sighed then chuckled at her student's eagerness, "Alright then. Her breathing patterns don't seem out of the ordinary, but this machine probably to thank for that." Tsunade placed a light green hand above Hinata's body and slowly dragged it from her head to her toes. "Huh."

"Lady Tsunade?"

"Her internal injuries aren't anywhere near the state they should be." She took the clipboard from Shizune.

"It says they were a mess just a few weeks ago, they're almost completely fine now. There's mild pelvic and thoracic inflammation, but that's... I'm not sure what to make of it." she said handing the clipboard back.

"Well, maybe it's her medicine? Could it be new or experimental?"

"Hm, good thought Shizune," She beamed, "I want a list of every medication they've put her on since she's been here. I want a CAT scan, an MRI and blood and chakra tests. Get another X-ray done as soon as they can."

"Yes Lady Tsunade, what kind of blood and chakra tests do you want me to order?"

Tsunade paused for a moment with her finger on her chin, "All of them."

"Tsunade! That's such a large amount of work! How do expect it to be done by the end of today?"

"I know it will get done because you're going to stay here and make sure it does." Tsunade smirked.

"M-me?" Shizune yelped.

"Who else can I trust?" she asked.

Shizune flushed at the compliment. "But, how-"

"Throw your weight around if you have to." Tsunade waved it off. "Just get it all done by the time I come back here tonight. I have to go battle with a librarian."

Tsunade poofed out of the hospital and Shizune stood there with her head hung , a look of both shock and distraught on her face, "But Lady Tsunade, I don't have any weight _to_ throw around..."

Miles away at Konoha's grand library, Tsunade had disguised herself as a young Hyuuga girl.

_You're not kicking me out this time, hag._

Tsunade sauntered into the library and passed the crone without any problems at all.

Inside, Tsunade's eye twitched dangerously.

_Not even a warning? Why you crinkled up bag of wind, I oughta bring this place down._

Thankfully however, the building stayed in tact. There was a reason Tsunade had come here after all. She needed to look at the Hyuuga genealogy. Normally this was forbidden to anyone non-Hyuuga (because the head feared someone would find out a Hyuuga in the past had married a farmer), but that was why she had the disguise. She wasn't going to let some dumb rule stop her from doing something.

Tsunade's opinions on rules went something like this: rules are just like laws, to be bent and broken on a daily basis.

Tsunade didn't know anything at this point. When she had first stepped foot in Konoha, she had thought she'd be treating a case of serious burns or organ failure with some criminal hunting on the side. No, she was faced with a full-blown medical mystery.

Most diseases that were formally a mystery were either contracted while in a hostile or tropical environment; or were genetic mutations from a very elusive homozygous recessive gene. As far as Tsunade knew, Hinata had not entered any kind of tropical environment; therefore, the next logical step was to take a peek into her DNA.

_Hiashi Hyuuga: Man of unremarkable medical records, no allergies, no life threatening injuries, made it to the rank of chunin before retiring from active duty to become clan leader._

___Elder twin to the late Hizashi Hyuuga who died in the line of duty._

_Son of Haruki and Takai Hyuuga._

_ Haruki died at the age of 72 from natural causes. Haruto is still living and also has an unremarkable medical record save for heart disease._

_Hiashi currently married to Kiku Hyuuga. They have one child, Hanabi, half-sister of Hinata._

Let's see... previous marriages, here we go.

_Hiashi Hyuuga was formerly married to Hikari Hyuuga. They also had one child, Hinata Hyuuga. _

Who has no Hyuuga medical records past the age of three, hmph, something to look into.

_Hikari Hyuuga died of an assassination against the new heir three weeks after Hinata was born, while she was on maternal leave. _

Sad, but irrelevant.

_Hikari was the daughter of Aki and Haru Hyuuga. She was one of five children and the only one to make it to the rank of jounin before retiring to become the wife of the clan head._

Not many members of the Hyuuga main branch seem to make it past the formal rank of chunin or special jounin.

_Aki and Haru both have terribly boring medical records. Haru made it to special jounin and Aki jounin before becoming calligraphy teachers among the Hyuuga clan._

_Of their other four children; one died by an accident near a pond at age four, and the other three had successful careers as proficient chunin until retiring from active duty._

_Aki's mother however died of multiple sudden organ failures at age forty-two. _

Also sad, but could be contributed to a bad diet or lack of necessary fats.

This endless stream of Hyuuga history would continue for another six hours before something occurred to Tsunade. In the mean time, Shizune was trying (and failing) to get the testing finished with.

"Excuse me? I just need-" the woman walked away without pause. Shizune turned around.

"If you would just wait a minute I-" again she was ignored.

By now, every doctor, nurse, technician, intern and janitor had heard of the craziness she was requesting. So now she was left to deal with a hospital full of rude, inconsiderate idiots!

Shizune normally had a very, _very_ slow fuse; she had developed it when she traveled with Tsunade. But Tsunade wasn't here right now, and Shizune was getting _mad_. How dare they just ignore her like that? She was a good medic-nin and could take on any physician in this hospital if she wanted to, but that wasn't what she wanted!

She plopped onto a chair in the waiting room, "All I want are some tests done!" She shouted.

Small giggles erupted in the next room. Shizune looked and read the sign on the door, "'Technician's Lounge'" she read aloud.

_So that's where they all disappeared._

She had managed to ask one technician for help performing the tests and, after laughing in her face, that man had told every other technician in the hospital and she hadn't seen one since.

A small tick appeared. They were _hiding_. Another tick. In the _lounge_? A third tick. From _her_? Steam could be seen. Oh, she would give them something to hide from.

"Oi!" She shouted pounding on the door, "Open up! I need to talk to you."

She heard snickering on the other end. "This is a medical staff only lounge, kid, go bother some other fool!"

Kid? She was nineteen for god's sake! "_Kid?_ I don't think you understand, exactly whom you're messing with. Now if you don't-" The door eased open and the same cocky man leaned against the frame.

"Wha'do ya want, sweet heart, some of us actually have work to do around here. Now if _you_ don't do what _I'm_ saying," he chuckled, "then I'm afraid I'll have to bring someone over to escort you from the premises, understand?"

He was _patronizing_ her. That over confident blowhole! How dare he insult her capabilities like that, hospital guards to detain her? She was not a genin! She was beyond angered, glaring up at the man's not quite clean shaven face was like something akin to a bull looking at a red scarf; infuriating.

CRACK!

Everyone's face was frozen in gape-mouthed terror as the small woman's fist crashed against the wall next to the man's head. The actual indent left by her fist was almost half way through the wall and the mass of branching cracks spread four feet in every direction.

"You didn't let me finish my sentence." Shizune said coolly. "You listen here," she said, each word laced with more venom than the last, "as Lady Tsunade's apprentice, I am not asking for respect, nor am I pleading for it, I am _demanding_ it. Now, if these tests aren't done by the time 10 o'clock rolls around, I swear on your grave that I will bring this building down; understand?"

The combined phrases such as; 'Lady Tsunade', 'apprentice', 'grave' and 'down', sent the technicians into an outright frenzy. They snatched folders and papers from the giant stack on the ground and scattered to finish them as quickly as possible.

Shizune giggled lightly, a broken hand was a small price to pay for the power rush she was feeling at that moment.

Back in Konoha's grand library Tsunade was feeling a little less triumphant.

Tsunade's head slammed onto the table. "Why is this so hard?" she moaned.

"Shhhhh!"

Tsunade's head snapped in the direction of the sound, _'Wretched old hag...'_

She had been over the Hyuuga clan's medical records twice now, going as far back as Hinata's great-great-great-grandparents and as distant as her fourth cousins three times removed. It was agonizing and she still hadn't found anything. She had such a good feeling about a hereditary disease too.

She only found one thing of mild interest. For all their pompous, irritating, holier-than-thou attitude, hardly any of the main branch Hyuuga made it past chunin before retiring; even less got past special jounin.

_Guess you guys ain't so hot after all. _Tsunade giggled madly.

The ones who did manage to make it to jounin or up died horribly tragic deaths, almost always at a young age. Sad, but… irrelevant?

How many times had she said that throughout the day? Twelve? Fifteen? Twenty? How many things could possibly be coincidental?

_Nothing, rule number five: nothing is ever coincidental._

"Shizune!"

The black haired woman whipped around at her name. She had been sitting with Hinata for an hour now, having left the highly frazzled technicians to their work.

"Lady Tsunade!" Her teacher had barged through the door and slammed it shut behind her. "I-it's not even close to ten yet; you shouldn't be her right now! Uh, what I meant to say is that the tests aren't finished or anything and-" Shizune started to ramble.

"That doesn't matter right now, I solved it!" It was just about now that Shizune notice how excited her teacher looked. Her eyes were bright and her smile wide, she looked like she just won a million bucks. At least that might have paid off half her gambling debts.

"What?" Shizune asked.

"The mystery! _Hinata's _mystery!"

"You know what's wrong with Hinata?"

"Yes!" Tsunade said grinning wider.

Her lady hadn't said anything else, so Shizune decided to venture a guess, "Is it a disease?"

"No, no, not a disease. I mean, at least not a classified one. Not yet anyway."

"Lady Tsunade, I'm afraid you're losing me."

Tsunade groaned, "It's a type of, gene. A special gene, a super human gene!"

Shizune decided to simply nod as if she understood.

"This specific gene causes chakra to multiply at a practically inhumane rate; it increases strength, speed, healing. It's a genetic weapon Shizune!"

Shizune's eyes widened, "That's… that's incredible." Anyone worth their salt in the ninja world would kill for a gene like that. The possibility that the gene could bring, it truly was super human. "And Hinata's family carries this gene?"

"Not her whole family, no, on her mother's side there's definite signs of this gene's progression throughout the generations. On her father's there's no sign that the gene has ever manifested."

"So we can go ask Hinata's mother about this then?"

Tsunade shook her head.

"Her grandparents?"

Tsunade shook her head again.

"Who can, Lady Tsunade, are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"This 'super human' gene has one fatal flaw; if it's not properly controlled, the chakra pathways will grow so large and replenish themselves so quickly, the individual will die of SCC: sudden chakra combustion."

"SCC?"

"A ninja sometimes gathers as much chakra as they can for a jutsu, thinking it will make the jutsu more powerful, but what they're really doing is cramming all of their energy into a confined space. The chakra molecules start to run into each other at increasing speed and eventually they rebound out of the person's chakra holes. It's a common suicide tactic for ANBU." Tsunade patiently explained.

"So all of the relatives on Hinata's mother's side are deceased." Shizune frowned.

"All the ones that we could have asked." Tsunade said.

Shizune suddenly looked up, "Lady Tsunade, if this is what the disease does, than how on earth did Hinata's ancestors live past childhood?" Shizune asked.

"That occurred to me too!" Tsunade said, clearly overjoyed that Shizune shared her wavelength.

"I saw that Hinata didn't have any Hyuuga medical records past the age of three so I checked it out with information that the Hokage gave us and it suddenly all made sense!"

Tsunade was pacing now.

"Ibiki and Anko took Hinata in at a very young age to begin helping and training her. But you have to think, there's gotta be differences between how they trained Hinata and how the Hyuuga trained would have trained Hinata, right?"

Shizune nodded.

"So _I_ started to think, what do the Hyuuga specialize in?" She turned quickly to her apprentice.

"Taijutsu. Not just that, but taijutsu that mainly relies on form and deadly precision, _not _large amounts of chakra. I did a little more digging and found that the Hyuuga don't usually start chakra training till age seven or eight, by then the chakra pathways are formed and solidified. It would take some dedication to get used to enlarging those pathways enough too, maybe the dedication of a jounin?"

"I suppose Lady Tsunade, but how does this effect anything?"

"I'm getting there Shizune, calm down!"

_I don't think I'm the one that needs to calm themselves… _Shizune gulped nervously.

"As I was saying; fully formed chakra pathways are much harder to adapt to enlargement. My theory here is that this special gene is activated by the sudden strain on chakra pathways."

The Hyuuga on Hinata's maternal side that have activated this gene have always been jounin, to become a jounin you need to be able to perform a respectable list of high-level jutsu. Which means that the Hyuuga who become jounin need to have stretched their pathways more than they were used to, therefore activating the gene! Most main branch Hyuuga don't have the ability to stretch their pathways this far, it's just physically impossible, which is why most main branch Hyuuga settle for a special jounin rank in taijutsu. Those who _do_ have this ability are small in number, and the one's that are connected to Hinata's maternal side are even smaller, this gene is basically dying out!"

"Um, back to Hinata, Lady Tsunade?" Shizune didn't want to anger her, but she was getting eager to hear more of Tsunade's theory.

"Huh?" Tsunade blushed slightly, having been caught rambling about her theory.

"Oh yeah, I was getting to that part too, jeez, you're so impatient, Shizune!"

Shizune's eye twitched.

"Anyway, the chakra pathways of a child are much more malleable. So if Ibiki and Anko started training Hinata in the ways of chakra while she was young…"

"Then her chakra pathways took to the enlargement much quicker than if she would have trained with the Hyuuga, thus causing the sudden early activation of the gene." Shizune whispered in awe.

"Exactly." Tsunade plopped down on the chair beside Shizune.

They both sat there in a comfortable and exhausted silence. Two days, had it really only been that long, they had been working a total of thirty hours and they still weren't done.

Shizune carefully asked the question they were both dreading, "What do we do now?"

Shizune sat quietly, waiting for her teacher's answer. When no reply came Shizune opened her eyes slowly and looked over.

What she saw made her laugh; Tsunade was out cold. Both snoring and drooling, she looked very happy to be visiting dreamland again.

"That sounds like a good idea Lady Tsunade." Shizune said before closing her eyes once more and drifting off to a comfortably dreamless sleep.


End file.
